Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) was the first bank in the country to establish a dedicated SME program.

About VPBank

One of the first joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam, VPBank was established in 1993. The bank offers a wide range of products and services for retail, SME and corporate customers. VPBank’s revenue has grown from 30 percent to 40 percent annually for the past several years, and balance sheet growth has been 25 percent to 30 percent per year for the past 5 years. VPBank now serves over 4 million clients across its 215 branches, employing more than 10,000 people.

The Program

VPBank launched CommCredit in 2015 to bank informal businesses, about 80 percent of which are women owned. Nearly 65,000 informal women-owned businesses have been banked as a result of these efforts. Building on this, the bank’s Women’s Market program, which it is currently piloting, will seek to serve women SME owners. In addition to a wide range of banking products and services, the bank offers a collateral-free loan and business credit card that particularly benefits women, given their disproportionately low access to collateral. Understanding the wide range of challenges beyond access to finance faced by women entrepreneurs, VPBank is incorporating robust non-financial services into its Women’s Market program, focusing on mentoring, networking, and business and financial education services.

 

WOMEN AT
VPBANK

VPBank has nearly 10,000 
women SME customers.



The bank has almost 2,000
SME loans to women.



56 percent of VPBank’s
employees are female.



33 percent of senior
managers are women.



35 percent of the VPBank board
is comprised of women.

 

The Opportunity in Vietnam

73%

of women in the country were in the workforce as of 2017, the World Bank found.

29%

of women in Vietnam over age 15 had a bank account as of 2017, according to Findex.

16%

of all Vietnamese women saved at a formal financial institution in 2017, Findex research showed, yet 60% of all women in the country engaged in savings behavior that year.

18%

of women had a loan from a financial institution in 2017, but 47% of women reported borrowing money that year, Findex found.

Follow Vietnam Prosperity Bank