A view of the press conference. —VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Tuesday announced the 2026 Banking Sector Digital Transformation with the theme ‘Smart banking in the data and AI era’.

The annual event, which will be held on August 18-19, 2026, at the ICE International Exhibition Centre, 91 Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Hà Nội, is expected to attract around 324 delegates and feature 21 booths representing credit institutions, payment intermediary service providers, and technology companies.

Lê Anh Dũng, Deputy Director of the SBV’s Payment Department, said that the theme of this year event would not only position the Vietnamese banking sector within a development phase shaped and driven by data and AI, but also embodies the spirit of the Politburo’s Resolution No. 57/NQ-TW and the Government’s national digital transformation directives which consider the development of AI and the data economy a major priority and a key component.

"Through the event, the banking sector wishes to affirm a key message: digital transformation is not merely a matter of technology, but fundamentally, it is about serving people. Data and AI are just tools, the ultimate goal remains delivering superior convenience and experiences to customers while creating tangible value for society," Dũng said.

Nguyễn Xuân Hải, Acting Editor-in-Chief of Banking Times, said that as the lifeblood of the economy, the banking sector had consistently pioneered the national digital transformation process. The achievements attained had not only comprehensively transformed the sector's internal operations but had also provided a powerful impetus, delivering tangible benefits to the public, businesses, and the economy as a whole.

Hải said: “The most distinct mark and the clearest measure of this success is the cashless payment revolution. To date, the majority of banking services are conducted via digital channels, with many banks seeing 95 per cent of their transactions executed digitally.

"In the first six months of 2026, cashless payment activities continued to show positive growth compared to the same period in 2025 with a total transaction  volume exceeding 15 billion and a total value surpassing VNĐ190 quadrillion, up 34.28 per cent in volume and 12.24 per cent in value.”

To foster a transparent and flexible legal environment that facilitates the robust application of science and technology and drives digital transformation across the banking sector, Hoàng Minh Tiến, Deputy Director of the SBV’s Information Technology Department, said that the SBV had adhered to the principle that institutions must lead the way to pave the path for innovation.

SBV had progressively streamlined the legal framework to remove bottlenecks and promote the adoption of information technology, digital transformation and cashless payments. — BIZHUB/VNS