News

Vietnam's state-owned banks setting up ATM network

October 5, 2003

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam's ATMs will be linked locally and internationally if BankNet, a joint-stock company with 11 owners including three state-owned banks, achieves its aims.

According to a Vietnam News Agency report, BankNet'saim is to install ATMs across the country, as well as link them with international systems. BankNet plans to begin operations on Oct. 20.

Pham Thanh Tan, director of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, said BankNet would help banks cut set-up and operation costs for ATMs by linking them into a single network.

The company, worth 50 billion VND ($3.2 million U.S.), also plans to offer its own card service, payment service and trade equipment between banks, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Vietcombank, which has 120 ATMs nationwide, is the only one of the four state-owned banks that is not involved with BankNet.

Vietcombank's cards manager, Nguyen Tu Anh, said she would consider connection to BankNet once the company proves its systems works efficiently.

BankNet's three founding shareholders are the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and the Hanoi Technology Development Company.

Vietnamese banks had installed more than 200 ATMs by last May, according to State Bank of Vietnam's Banking Technologies Department, and that number was expected to double by the end of 2003.

Large commercial banks are leading the way. For instance, the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam owns 70 ATMs, 30 of which have been placed in supermarkets, trading centers, hotels or other public places.

Installation of ATMs is expected to account for half of commercial banks' technology investments by 2005, mounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. (See related story Vietnamese banks adding more ATMs)