VIB is the first bank in Việt Nam to operate Front Arena on AWS, extending its cloud strategy to systems supporting treasury and foreign exchange operations. — Photos courtesy of the bank

HÀ NỘI — Vietnam International Bank (VIB) has put into operation its core system supporting treasury, foreign exchange and financial-market trading system using FIS Global's Front Arena platform on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the bank said.

VIB said the deployment makes it the first bank in Việt Nam to operate Front Arena on AWS, extending its cloud strategy to systems supporting treasury and foreign exchange operations.

The new system is designed to increase transaction-processing capacity, automate processes, improve real-time risk management and support the expansion of VIB's treasury and foreign exchange businesses.

Front Arena is a multi-asset trading and risk-management platform developed by FIS that supports activities including trade execution, position and risk management and post-trade processing.

VIB said the system would reduce manual data entry, transformation and reconciliation while providing more timely information for decision-making and allowing the bank to handle higher transaction volumes.

"VIB is entering the VIB 3.0 phase, developing at a larger scale, with higher governance requirements as markets become increasingly volatile and complex," said Trần Chí Thanh, head of treasury at VIB.

"Investing in a treasury and foreign exchange trading system powered by Front Arena is one step in our strategy to build the treasury and foreign exchange business capabilities required for the bank's next stage of development," he said.

Boosting FX trading

VIB has received several awards for its SME trade finance capabilities.

VIB said it has strengthened its position in capital markets over recent years, including trading in government bonds and securities issued by credit institutions. It said it ranked among the top two banks in Việt Nam's foreign exchange swap market and that revenue from structured products and derivatives grew at a compound annual rate of 45 per cent between 2020 and 2025.

The bank also said it had more than US$1.6 billion in offshore funding as of August 2026.

VIB has participated in the Asian Development Bank's Trade Finance Programme since 2009 and an International Finance Corporation programme since 2011. The bank said it received four ADB awards for its small and medium-sized enterprise trade finance capabilities between 2015 and 2019, as well as eight IFC awards related to trade finance and issuing-bank capabilities.

In 2026, VIB received the "Best GTFP Issuing Bank, East Asia and Pacific" award from IFC, the bank said.

Cloud strategy reaches core systems

The deployment of Front Arena on AWS also brings cloud infrastructure into a system used across VIB's front-office, control and operations functions.

VIB said the front office records transaction terms, including currency, amount, exchange rate and settlement date, while control functions use the same data to monitor limits and risk before approval. Operations teams then process confirmation and settlement.

Each function has distinct roles and authorities over the same data set, providing the foundation for VIB to raise governance standards, not merely processing speed.

"The value of a Cloud model therefore does not come simply from infrastructure migration, but depends on how the organisation designs user access controls, monitors activities and maintains appropriate control mechanisms as transaction volumes grow," VIB said.

"The value of a Cloud model therefore does not come simply from infrastructure migration, but depends on how the organisation designs user access controls, monitors activities and maintains appropriate control mechanisms as transaction volumes grow,"  Trần Nhất Minh, VIB's deputy chief executive officer in charge of technology said. 

He said the system’s actual effectiveness will continue to be assessed throughout its operation.

Eric Yeo, general manager of AWS Vietnam, said financial institutions require high standards of security, resilience and compliance for critical systems.

"We are proud to partner with VIB on its journey to migrate the core systems supporting its treasury and foreign exchange operations to the cloud," Yeo said.

The deployment comes as VIB marks its 30th anniversary. The bank said the investment forms part of preparations for its next stage of development, focused on increasing scale, productivity and governance capabilities. —VNS