Bold proposal: Establish a digital bank specifically for SMEs and business households

(Dan Tri) - This establishment also requires mechanisms and policies on subprime lending, and the State Bank's rating according to standards...

At the meeting of the Committee on fintech and digital assets under the Private Economic Panorama Model (ViPEL) on the afternoon of September 30, Mr. Nguyen Van Than, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME), proposed establishing a specialized digital bank to serve small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and business households.

“Leverage” to access capital for SMEs

According to Mr. Than, Vietnam now has enough technological conditions and, more importantly, open policies from senior leaders to implement this model. Digital banking will be an important solution to help SMEs and business households access capital, removing inherent obstacles in unsecured loans or loans with high interest rates.

He admitted that there were still concerns from professional agencies about the level of risk, but emphasized the need for cooperation between businesses to prove that the risks of digital banking could be lower than the total risks of current forms of lending.

Supporting Mr. Than's view, Mr. Jonas Eichhorst, CEO of Timo Digital Bank by BVBank, said that digital banking for SMEs is very practical and meets the needs of the economy. However, he noted that to do so, technology is needed and even SMEs must transform.

There are still many challenges.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao noted that a digital bank for SMEs is really not simple (Photo: DT).

However, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Sovico Group, noted that a digital bank for SMEs is not really simple.

Besides the issue of technology application, this establishment also requires mechanisms and policies on subprime lending, leading to questions about the State Bank's assessment and ranking according to standards.

“And that is also the content that we must recommend regarding policy,” Ms. Thao emphasized.

Another barrier is the legal infrastructure for digital signatures, electronic contracts, digital transactions and the recognition of authentication solutions such as blockchain in the banking sector. Without synchronous handling, digital banking operations will hardly be as effective as expected.

From the perspective of a technology enterprise, Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Misa Joint Stock Company, shared practical experience. Misa currently has more than 350,000 customers, cooperates with nearly 10 banks and has deployed the Misa Lending platform for unsecured loans based on electronic accounting data.

According to Ms. Thuy, the rate of SMEs approved for loans through this system is 10 times higher than before, with about 30,000 billion VND disbursed in the past two years. “This shows that digital technology can solve the capital problem for SMEs if deployed properly,” she said.

The Private Economic Panorama Model (ViPEL) is one of the tasks assigned by the Prime Minister to the Private Economic Development Research Board (Board IV) to develop. Starting to operate from September 11, 2025, ViPEL includes four committees aiming to realize Resolution 68 with specific, regular actions and the most systematic gathering of forces, with a complete high-level and lower-level operating mechanism.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/de-xuat-tao-bao-lap-ngan-hang-so-danh-rieng-cho-sme-va-ho-kinh-doanh-20251001073453079.htm