IT Dominates other Banking Business Activities

ViB Forum interviewed Dao Minh Tuan, director of the Information Technology Department of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).

 

IT dominates all banking business activities. This can be seen in banks not only Vietcombank alone. Therefore, the bank’s business strategy is always a basis for the development of its IT strategy. We have always attached importance to business orientations to select IT solutions and products, thus meeting the standard for a modern bank to provide high quality products for customers.

 

Like other CIOs, when building IT application plans, I have to follow business strategies and vision developed by the bank’s leaders. For business requirements, based on the legal environment and the change in awareness of users, CIOs in banks have to advise their leaders in selecting suitable solutions from a point of view of their feasibility in the business environment, optimum of total cost of ownership (TCO) and suitability with IT development tendencies. IT application of Vietcombank has been implemented based on the principles, which are also the working style of IT managers and staff members in Vietcombank.

Lucky me to work in an environment where leaders have good understanding and vision on the role of IT in business activities of a modern bank. Accordingly, continuous requirements for IT development to meet the development of the bank are pressure and motivation for IT staff members and me to update and catch up with new business ideas and new requirements of customers.

Human resources represent the most important factor in all fields. However, in Vietnam, the legal environment has not caught up with the development of IT and modern financial business is another factor impacting IT application in business activities, in particular activities of a bank sensitive with profits and risks. These factors also influence Vietcombank.

The most important thing brought by IT to banks and Vietcombank in particular is a change in a traditional business awareness, which has existed for tens of years. Accordingly, banks have shifted to new and professional business method, which requires high adaptability and flexibility.

 

Also, IT has bridged all business activities of the bank and brought uniqueness in business targets of Vietcombank. It is clear that IT does not earn the bank incomes directly but it dominates all business activities of the bank.