In the context where national digital transformation is identified as a key driver of socio-economic development, the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) is actively strengthening comprehensive data connectivity and application across its banking operations, while accompanying the Government in building a national data platform. This strategic direction aims to enhance governance capacity, improve product and service quality, elevate customer experience, and reaffirm Agribank’s role as a key state-owned commercial bank in the national digital transformation process.

Agribank identifies data as a critical resource that serves as the foundation for developing a modern, secure, and sustainable digital banking system. On this basis, the Bank has been implementing in a comprehensive and coordinated manner the tasks under the Scheme on the development and application of population data, electronic identification and authentication for national digital transformation for the 2022–2025 period, with a vision toward 2030 (Scheme 06). This is regarded as a core focus to enhance management efficiency, ensure information security and safety, and prevent fraud in banking operations.

In recent years, Agribank has focused on building and completing a data ecosystem with “smart touchpoints” to support the collection, authentication, cleansing, and standardization of customer data. The Bank has gradually established a centralized data repository, creating a foundation for data analytics, risk management, product personalization, and the development of digital banking services. At the same time, Agribank has strengthened cooperation with functional units of the Ministry of Public Security in connecting to and exploiting the National Population Database, thereby enhancing the reliability and accuracy of customer information.

The deployment of electronic identification and biometric authentication has been promoted across the entire Agribank system. Customers can conveniently verify their identities, open accounts, and register for banking services either through digital channels or at transaction counters. To date, Agribank has collected and cleansed data for millions of individual customers, tens of thousands of foreign customers, and hundreds of thousands of organizations, a significant portion of whom have been fully authenticated through the national electronic identification platform.

Entering 2025, Agribank continues to expand data standardization for organizational customers and foreign customers who do not use citizen identification cards. Concurrently, the Bank is actively implementing and expanding utilities on the electronic identification platform, including linking social security accounts, piloting online account opening, using electronic identification in place of traditional documents for transaction authentication, and gradually applying digital signatures and digital certificates in banking services.

Beyond its core banking activities, Agribank has also coordinated with local authorities to deploy solutions that leverage population data to support administrative procedure reform and the provision of online public services. Several collaborative models have been piloted at transaction points, enabling citizens and businesses to complete multiple administrative procedures directly at the bank, thereby saving time and costs and improving service efficiency.

In addition, Agribank has participated in sponsoring and deploying technological solutions such as smart kiosks for authentication and issuance of digital copies of electronic documents, as well as applying artificial intelligence and automation in certification processes, significantly reducing processing time. The Bank has also coordinated with regulatory agencies and technology partners to implement digital transformation solutions for household businesses and small enterprises, supporting tax data connectivity, sales management, e-invoice issuance, and automated data transmission, thereby enhancing transparency and management efficiency.

With the approach of taking data as the foundation, digital transformation as the driving force, and people and businesses as the center of service, Agribank will continue to expand cooperation with ministries, sectors, local authorities, and technology partners to promote data sharing and interoperability and to form a unified data ecosystem. This serves as an important foundation for the Bank to develop comprehensive digital services, enhance competitiveness, and make practical contributions to the development of digital government, digital economy, and digital society in Viet Nam.

Kylie Nguyen