Đào Minh Tú, deputy governor of the State Bank of Việt Nam, offers a bouquet to Lê Thị Băng Tâm, HDBank’s chairwoman, at the bank’s 30th anniversary celebrations last Saturday.

HCM CITY — The HCM City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, formally known as HDBank, has achieved great success after 30 years of development, contributing to the city’s socio-economic development, a banking official has said.

Speaking at the ceremony of 30th anniversary of the bank’s founding last Saturday, Đào Minh Tú, deputy governor of the State Bank of Việt Nam, said HDBank should continue to build on its 30 years of milestone development to grow more sustainably in future.

The bank has been approved to adopt Basel II standards, an international benchmark for risk management, ahead of schedule, according to Tú. 

“HDBank’s risk management capacity has met its stringent standards for the finance and banking sector to ensure safer, more efficient, sustainable and transparent business operations,” he said. 

Lê Thị Băng Tâm, HDBank chairwoman, said HDBank has achieved excellent business results in all areas, such as operating scale, branch network, services and solutions offered to individual customers, utility products and services, contributions to the market, and evaluation by customers, with a focus on the retail segment.

Following the rise of fintech and banking digitisation, HDBank has offered promotions for non-cash transaction, she said. 

HDBank has offered added value for millions of customers over the years, given its advantages with a unique eco-system of consumer finance, aviation, and real estate, among others.

HDBank has been awarded with prestigious honours from the Government, including the Labour Medal, second class (twice) and third class (thrice), and the Government’s Emulation Flag several times.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo, permanent vice chairwoman of HDBank, speaks at the event held to mark the 30th anniversary last Saturday.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo, permanent vice chairwoman of HDBank, said: “In recent years HDBank has been among banks achieving outstanding growth rates. Its assets increased 22-fold between 2008 and 2018, to more than VNĐ216 trillion (US$9.3 billion), and listed among the most efficient banks in Việt Nam.” 

The bank’s return on assets and return on equity, which are profitability indicators, have always been at high levels. Its bad debt ratio is well under control at only 1 per cent, she said.

“We aim to build a multi-purpose bank to become one of the largest commercial banks in Việt Nam and to become a people’s bank,” she said. “More than 16,000 staff of the bank would continue to offer a range of comprehensive products and services”. 

Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, spoke highly of HDBank’s positive contributions to the city’s socio-economic development in recent years.

HDBank should aim to ultimately become a “happy development bank” to improve the happiness of all of its employees, customers and society as a whole, he said. 

HDBank, which acquired Đại Á Bank in 2013 and French-owned Société Générale Viet Finance, has become one of the largest lenders in the country.

In 2018 it achieved various milestones, including listing on the HCM City Stock Exchange (HoSE) in early 2018, a surge into the list of 20 largest companies by market capitalisation and an appearance among the top eight credit institutions.

On December 18, 2019, the bank opened its first overseas representative office in Myanmar to kick off its strategy of expanding into the international market.

On the occasion, HDBank offered meaningful charitable activities to the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, HCM City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients, and Mỹ Lai Peace Foundation.

Moody’s has upgraded the bank’s credit rating to B1 with a stable outlook.

HDBank has a network of 285 branches and transaction offices, nearly 16,000 transaction points across 63 provinces and cities, with 16,500 professional and dedicated employees.

HDBank is one of 10 Vietnamese banks named among the 500 biggest banks in the Southeast Asian region by AsiaBanker, the first bank in Việt Nam to receive the “Green Deal Award” from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), among Forbes’ 40 most prestigious brands in Việt Nam, and the winner of the Best Companies to Work For in Asia award from HR Asia for two consecutive years.

Established in 1990 as the HCM City Housing Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, the bank had a starting capital of VNĐ3 billion, assets of VNĐ20 billion and 17 employees. 

The bank changed its name to HDBank in 2011. 

Attending the awards ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hoà Bình; secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, Nguyễn Thiện Nhân; Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh; leaders of central and local agencies; HDBank’s customers and strategic partners; and the bank’s past and present employees. — VNS

HDBank honours 34 members of its staff for their contributions to its development at the 30th anniversary celebrations last Saturday. — Photos courtesy of HDBank