'Vietnam is an important strategic market for American Express'

Vietnam has the potential to grow e-payments with the rapid rise of e-wallets, QR code solutions, debit cards and credit cards, according to an American Express representative.

At the end of June, American Express - a card organization from the US and Vietnam International Bank (VIB) cooperated to launch the Super Card white card line. This is the first credit card line on the market that allows users to choose features according to their own needs and preferences. The cooperation between the two parties not only shows the progress in VIB's strategy of personalizing user experience but also affirms the potential of the Vietnamese credit card market with international partners.

Super Card is a cooperative card line between VIB and American Express, launched in June. Photo: VIB — Super Card is a cooperative card line between VIB and American Express, launched in June. Photo: *VIB*

American Express wants to expand its market in Vietnam

American Express is a global integrated payments company with a long history of providing products, services, meeting needs and delivering experiences to customers around the world.

The organization operates a global payment network with more than 190 card issuing and selling partners in approximately 198 countries and territories. From 2017 to 2022, the unit more than doubled the number of card acceptance locations (outside the US), from 16 million to 36.5 million cards, an increase of 128%. Currently, American Express cards are accepted at 80 million locations worldwide.

Growing millions of card acceptance points is a top priority for the US card organization, aiming to create an ecosystem where cardholders are welcomed and have convenient spending.

In Vietnam, American Express has had three previous partnerships. According to Ms. Divya Jain, Vice President and General Manager of Global Network Services, Asia and South Pacific, American Express, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia, with the potential for growth in electronic payments with the rapid increase of e-wallets, QR code solutions, debit cards and credit cards.

"Vietnam is a strategically important market for American Express," said Divya Jain.

After 21 years of presence here, this organization wants to contribute more to Vietnam's journey towards a cashless society. Accordingly, this unit's strategy is to cooperate with banking partners to increase card acceptance points, thereby providing more choices for users with features and benefits that suit their needs.

"The partnership with VIB allows American Express to expand its presence and reach more cardholders in Vietnam, giving them access to our global network and benefits, while increasing transaction volume for our products. The Super Card is one of the innovative products that we believe has great potential for growth in the market," added Ms. Divya Jain.

Sharing this view, Ms. Tuong Nguyen, Director of Strategy and Card Operations of VIB, said that cooperating with American Express is an opportunity for VIB to continue to affirm its leading position in card trends by giving users the right to control, choose their own features and bring cardholders world-class shopping, dining and travel utilities.

Super Card gives users the autonomy to choose their own features. Photo: VIB — Super Card gives users the autonomy to choose card features. Photo: *VIB*

"In the spirit of focusing on customers and applying modern technology to products and services, we want to elevate the spending style of Vietnamese people," said Ms. Tuong Nguyen.

Super Card for citizens of the digital economy

The Super Card is a continuation of VIB's high-tech cashless payment support products with a customer-centric spirit.

The card targets customers who are modern citizens of the digital economy, love technology, constantly seek, affirm and express their ego - the right to control all aspects of life. They have a frequent frequency of spending via credit cards and prefer highly personalized products and services.

With this card line, users not only enjoy the top incentives in the cashless payment market, but also feel their ownership of every single feature of the card. VIB's goal is to give customers the freedom and flexibility to choose card features based on their personal needs and preferences.

Accordingly, one of the biggest benefits that makes Vietnamese consumers respond to this card line is the feature of accumulating points or refunding up to 15%, up to one million VND per statement period when paying for dining, shopping, traveling, online transactions or spending abroad. In addition, users can decide on features such as choosing the last 5 digits of the card, choosing the statement date and the minimum payment amount per period. Along with that, VIB's technological advantage will help customers experience a 100% digital process from registration, approval to using the Super Card within 15-30 minutes.

Credit cards are one of VIB's core businesses. Photo: VIB — Credit cards are one of VIB's core businesses. Photo: *VIB*

"VIB Super Card is a big step forward in VIB's journey to conquer customers. The birth of Super Card completely changes the model of providing traditional banking financial products, shifting from selling what the bank has to providing customer services according to customer requirements," Ms. Tuong Nguyen added.

This bank representative also expects that within the next 3-5 years, VIB will be the main transaction bank for generations of Vietnamese users.

"Continuously seeking cooperation with major strategic partners such as American Express contributes to enhancing outstanding benefits for VIB credit card customers, thereby further affirming our leading position in card trends," Ms. Tuong Nguyen added.

Credit cards are one of VIB's core businesses, alongside home loans, auto loans, business loans and bancasurance.
Highly personalized credit cards using modern technology. By the end of 2022, the bank recorded the number of credit cards exceeding half a million issued, a 5.5-fold increase compared to 2019. Total spending by Vietnamese people via VIB credit cards increased 8.5 times, from VND700 billion per month (USD30 million) in 2019 to VND6,000 billion per month (over USD2.7 billion) in 2022.

An Nhien

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