“Favourable self-built catalysts drove profitability and gave us the space to invest in data and technology, empowering digital customer acquisition and engagement, and enabling us to gain a higher share of the primary banking relationship.”
Chief Executive OfficerJens Lottner
Dear valued shareholders,
As 2021 unfolded, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact industries, regions, and customer segments. Stringent measures were required in response to the 4th wave of infections including extended lockdowns in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding neighbourhood. However, government vaccinations were rolled-out in record time, seeing 100% of adults double vaccinated in just over 6 months and helping domestic activities resume safely from Q4. This, alongside other government support like manufacturing and export assistance, enabled Vietnam to still record positive annual GDP growth of 2.6%. The pandemic has not changed the favourable macro trends that are providing tailwinds for Vietnam’s economic growth. In 2022, strong GDP growth of 5.5–6.5% is forecast, and I continue to be optimistic about Vietnam’s immense economic potential.
“Favourable self-built catalysts drove profitability and gave us the space to invest in data and technology, empowering digital customer acquisition and engagement, and enabling us to gain a higher share of the primary banking relationship.”
Tourism and related services are increasing, there has been a pickup in domestic demand, and foreign direct investment (FDI) is also rising as investors return. However, despite these positive signs, I still believe a degree of caution is necessary given the potential economic effects of global issues such as US-China tensions and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. During 2021, the impact of lockdowns on customer behaviours was significant and is likely to be long term. These challenging times led to an accelerated shift towards digital banking and strong demand for simpler, more intuitive, wealth management products.
A YouGov survey conducted in late 2021 found that the top financial priorities of customers in Vietnam are:
- Saving money for unexpected hardship
- Adequate protection for emergencies
- Making money through investing
- Paying bills on time
Techcombank had anticipated this shift and has been relentlessly striving to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers by providing digital paths to enable them to achieve their goals and by investing to continuously improve our offerings.
The shift toward a cashless economy, which was already underway in Vietnam, got a serious boost as many people tried e-banking and mobile banking for the first time and discovered that it is instant, convenient, and safe.
2021: Another year of exceptional results
Our return ratios – return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), and current and savings accounts (CASA) ratio – are also among the highest in the market. Reflecting on the success of the past year, I would like to highlight three points:
Our customer-centric policy and calculated risk framework made us the most profitable by ROA and operationally efficient bank in Vietnam.
01
We continued to enjoy a fast- growing customer base as we quickly adapted to refining business models, funding options and opportunity pools.
02
We recruited 4,300+ new employees with a shift towards digital and data under our comprehensive HR plan to attract and retain talent.
03
The Bank stood alongside our community and people – supporting government pandemic initiatives, driving vaccination for our employees and their families, and offering customer and employee care programs.
CHANGE BANKING, CHANGE LIVES
2021-2025 STRATEGY
Techcombank embarked on the first year of our Change banking, change lives 2021–2025 strategy for a customer-centric, data and digital-first transformation.
Techcombank is tracking well towards our 2025 goals of:
55 %
CASA ratio
USD 20 billion
CASA ratio
(making us one of the region’s most valuable banks)20 %
ROE
>30 %
Net Fee Income/TOI
2021 was another year of robust financial and non-financial performance for Techcombank, reaffirming our position as Vietnam’s most profitable and operationally efficient bank.
Performance highlights
2021 continues to be a year of strong growth, driven by the following factors:
- The customer base is improved in both quality and quantity
- Customized business mode
- Positive growth momentum from the end of 2020
- Strong balance sheet
- Solid leadership team
- Great team of talented people
Healthy balance sheet
Total consolidated assets29.4 % YoY
22.1 % YoY
High CAR
15.0 %
NPL in line with the Bank’s prudent approach to risk-management
0.7 %
High non-performing loan ratio
162.9 %
TOI
35.4 % YoY
CASA
50.5 %
Fee Income Growth
42.4 % YoY
Strong profit before tax
41.7% YoY
Market Capitalisation
58.7% YoY
NIM
5.6 %
Completed a record of syndicated loan
USD 800 million
Customers satisfaction and engagement
Enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty, as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT). Techcombank is ranked No. 6 in Asia’s Top 10 most recommended retail banks by BankQuality Consumer Survey and Ranking – the only Vietnamese bank to make Top 10.
Talent
Our deep-rooted belief is that the success of our employees is the bedrock for Techcombank’s success.
Focusing on building the foundation, accelerating the strategy for 2021-2025
Talent
>17%
Top 6%
Top 12%
Talent, Digital and Data form the three integrated core pillars of Techcombank’s competitive strategy. In 2021, we focused on building on this foundation, and enhancing our existing compliance and risk management capabilities to set new standards for the industry.
Digital
In 2021, Techcombank focused on strengthening our core infrastructure, as well as improving our transaction banking and credit platforms, both for retail and corporates.
In terms of new platforms, our focus was on launching our new transaction banking mobile app and credit underwriting models, which included: :
- Next generation of loan origination platforms
- Business credit platform (BCDE)
- Mobile app for retail customers
- Mobile app for corporate customers
- Market leading fraud management platforms
Data
Data is essential to informed decision making and personalised customer solutions. To this effect, in 2021 we focused on:
Building a hybrid data lake on the cloud with AWS
Using data and analytics capabilities to improve propensity models, better predict customer behaviour and raise lead generation conversion rates
Revamping data governance to implement new policies and standards, identifying target-state architecture and technologies
Awards/Recognition
Techcombank continues to be recognised as the largest private bank in Vietnam and one of the leading banks in Asia Pacific.
2022 Priorities And Focus Areas
We will continue to strengthen our foundation across talent, digital, and data. The Bank will step up our focus on acquiring and engaging customers on digital platforms; analysing their spending data and learning to better predict spending behaviour. Data will improve how we personalise customer offerings and nudges; engaging customers with appropriate content, advice and solutions tailored to their needs and preferences.
Continuing our well- defined and established approach, Techcombank will further build capabilities with the aim of serving all our customers’ daily banking needs.
We will continuously enhance our retail and corporate transaction platforms – adding new features and functionalities to make them simpler and more intuitive. Customers will use our platform for their everyday banking, investment, financial planning, credit, and service-related needs.
Powered by data, the platform will also provide insights and suggestions for our customers, guiding them through their financial decisions.
We remain committed to investing in lending transformation to achieve our vision of being the most profitable, yet relevant and sustainable lender through economic cycles. These business initiatives will improve risk management – both credit and non- credit risks – helping us enhance customer confidence in Techcombank, optimise returns, comply with regulations, and achieve sustainable growth.
We will refine our credit life cycle models with specific emphasis on improving solutions offered to SMEs. These models will use traditional and non-traditional data to improve their accuracy and enable prudent risk management. In line with our vision to be a leader in enterprise risk management (ERM) and to sustain the Bank’s long-term growth, other focus areas in 2022 will be strengthening our capabilities in environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, technology, operations, and financial crime risks (TOFC) and model risk management (MRM).
Finally, as talent is critical to any organisation’s success, we are determined to invest in attracting, developing, and retaining the best employees. We are working with leading institutions to develop training programs for employees to continuously develop themselves, which is also one of our core values.
