HÀ NỘI — VPBank was named by IFC as one of three banks with the best services for small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia at the Global SME Finance Forum 2018 held in Madrid on Monday.

VPBank surpassed more than 100 international candidates to achieve the silver award.

The prestigious prize was evaluated by a jury board including 60 persons in the first round and another 6-8 in the second round.

VPBank received the award thanks to its breakthrough growth in the SME sector including both financial and non-financial factors. In addition, the jury board also commended VPBank for its efforts in applying digital technologies to bring more convenience to customers.

In Việt Nam, VPBank is one of the leading banks in the SME segment, with more than 75,000 customers. The bank is a pioneer in providing financial solutions for micro-businesses and women-led firms that find it hard to access bank loans.

The Global SME Finance 2018 award aims to honour excellent financial institutions and fintech firms with impressive results in providing products and services to SMEs in the market, said Matthew Gamser, CEO of SME Finance Forum.

Fung Kai Jin, VPBank’s deputy general director and director of its SME Sector, said this is the fourth consecutive year VPBank has won the award. The prize not only recognised VPBank’s efforts in providing support to the SME community in Việt Nam but also provides momentum for the bank to continue offering suitable and creative financial solutions to help Vietnamese firms prosper. — VNS