The white card product - Super Card debuts will bring an interesting highlight to the cashless payment market in Việt Nam.— Photo courtesy of VIB

HÀ NỘI — In late June 2023, Vietnam International Bank (VIB) cooperated with American Express to launch its first white card named Super Card. Ms Tường Nguyễn, Head of VIB's Card Strategy & Operation Centre and Ms Divya Jain, Vice President and General Manager, Global Network Services, Asia and South Pacific Growth Markets, American Express, shared the cooperation strategy of the two sides with an attempt to bring privileges beyond expectations to credit card users in the Vietnamese market.

As Vice President and General Manager, Global Network Services, Asia and South Pacific Growth Markets, American Express, can you share about American Express's expansion strategy in Việt Nam?

Ms Divya Jain: As one of the fastest-rising economies of Southeast Asia, Việt Nam has the potential for high adoption of e-payments with the proliferation of digital wallets, QR code solutions, debit and credit cards.

Việt Nam, therefore, is a market of strategic importance for American Express. It is a rapidly evolving domestic payments market, and it is a popular destination for our global Card Members to visit for work and leisure.

American Express is no stranger in Việt Nam. We have been in Việt Nam for 21 years and are eager to play an increasing role in Việt Nam’s journey toward a cashless society.

In Việt Nam, our strategy is to invest strategically with our bank partners to grow our merchant acceptance and to provide consumers with more credit card options that not only offer exclusive global benefits from American Express but also provide features & benefits that are relevant to the market.

Super Card is not only the first white card line but also the continuation of VIB's high-tech products that will facilitate cashless payment. — Photo courtesy of VIB

What chance made VIB and American Express cooperate to launch the first white card- Super Card?

Ms Divya Jain: We believe in partnerships with banks that are a good strategic fit for the American Express network. The partnership with VIB allows us to expand our presence and reach more Card Members in Việt Nam, bringing them access to our global network and benefits while driving more volume to our network. Our latest cashback product, the VIB Super American Express Card, is one such innovative offering and we are excited about its potential in the market.

Ms Tường Nguyễn: American Express is known as a globally integrated payment company. The company has hundreds of years of experience in providing products and services, satisfying needs and bringing a variety of experiences to customers around the world. Cooperating with American Express to launch the first white card line is an opportunity for VIB to affirm its leading position in the card trend. The card line is expected to bring world-class shopping, dining and travel facilities to users.

In the spirit of customer-centricity and the application of modern technology to products and services, we want to elevate the spending style of Vietnamese people. With Super Card, users will not only enjoy attractive incentives belonging to the leading group in the cashless payment market, but above all, they will feel their ownership of every smallest feature of the card.

Sharing the same opinion with Ms Divya Jain, I believe that the cooperation between the two brands in which the white card product - Super Card debuts will bring an interesting highlight to the cashless payment market in Việt Nam.

With the launch of Super Card, which customer segment will VIB target?

Ms Tường Nguyễn: We target customers who are modern citizens of the digital economy and love technology. They are constantly looking for, affirming and expressing their ego and their rights to control all aspects of life. These customers make spending via credit cards regularly and prefer highly personalised products and services.

What are the strengths that help Super Card compete actively with other credit card products on the market today? What are the benefits that the card brings to Vietnamese users?

Ms Tường Nguyễn: Super Card is not only the first white card line but also the continuation of VIB's high-tech products that will facilitate cashless payment. The card converges the advantages and the customer-centric spirit. It also provides high-quality and sophisticated services that are differentiated from others available in the market.

With this line of cards, we strive to give our customers the freedom and flexibility to choose card features based on their individual needs and preferences.

The biggest benefit that I think Vietnamese consumers will respond to is the feature to accumulate points or refund up to 15 per cent, up to VNĐ1 million per statement period, when paying for food, shopping, travelling, making online transactions or spending abroad. We want to offer our customers outstanding incentives so that they can save their money as much as possible even when they make payments for quality services.

At the same time, Super Card cardholders have the full right to choose the last five digits of the card, and actively manage their finances by deciding the statement date and the minimum payment amount each period. Along with that, VIB's technological advantages will help customers experience the 100 per cent digitisation process from registering, and approving to using Super Card within 15 -30 minutes.

With such outstanding features, how does VIB set expectations for this white card line?

Ms Tường Nguyễn: VIB Super Card is a long step in VIB's journey to conquer customers. The introduction of Super Card will completely change the pattern of providing traditional banking and financial products. That will shift from selling what banks have to providing the service customers need according to their demands. This is a leap in VIB's strategy of personalising customer experience in particular and the Vietnamese banking market in general when bringing all the practical needs of each cardholder into specific product features.

With the launch of this product, we expect that VIB and its credit card lines will always be the first choice of Vietnamese customers when they think about personal finance solutions and card payment solutions. As a leader in the card trend, we expect that in the next 3-5 years, VIB will become the main transaction bank of Vietnamese users.

American Express has been present in Việt Nam for a long time. To date, how has the network of accepting American Express cards expanded?

Ms Divya Jain: Growing our merchant acceptance of American Express Cards in Việt Nam and around the world is a top priority so that our Card Members are warmly welcomed and feel encouraged to spend in the millions of places where their American Express cards are accepted.

We operate a payments network through which we establish and maintain relationships with 190+ issuing and acquiring partners in about 198 countries and territories to extend the reach of our global network.

Through the efforts made in the past few years, Amex has more than doubled the number of places that accept American Express internationally (outside of the US) since 2017. Internationally, coverage has grown from 16 million to 36.5 million (2017-22), an increase of 128 per cent.

Globally, Amex has more than tripled the number of locations that accept American Express Cards since 2017 and is now accepted at 80 million locations worldwide.

In Việt Nam, we now acquire merchants through three large acquirers and are increasingly present in all relevant locations.

VIB Super Card is a long step in VIB's journey to conquer customers. — Photo courtesy of VIB

Known as one of the card trend leaders in Việt Nam, how has VIB achieved its card development strategy over the years?

Ms Tường Nguyễn: Credit cards are one of VIB's core businesses, besides home loans, auto loans, business loans and bancassurance.

The lines of credit cards that we have designed are personalised, apply modern technology, and meet most of life's needs, including travel, shopping, online transactions, family spending, installment and refuelling.

In Việt Nam, VIB has been among the top banks in card growth rate and spending indicators on cards for many consecutive years. By the end of 2022, VIB recorded the number of issued credit cards exceeding half a million, 5.5 times higher than in 2019. Total spending of Vietnamese through VIB credit cards grew by 8.5 times, from VNĐ700 billion (US$30 million) a month in 2019, to VNĐ6 trillion ($2.7 billion) a month in 2022.

This result is thanks to the strategy of leading the card trend and the process of continuously enhancing outstanding incentives for users, digitising the card payment experience and applying modern technology to credit card products that VIB has been implementing since 2019.

We have been continuously searching for cooperation with major strategic partners such as American Express to offer outstanding benefits for VIB's credit card holders that have helped affirm our leading position in the card trend. — VNS