It used to be that banking customers needed to show up to a bank branch in person to verify their identity and sign off on bank transactions. But as customer volumes increase, banks are looking for ways to scale these face-to-face branch visits without placing additional pressure on their customer service teams. The good news is that the technology now exists to do this digitally.

Remote Know-Your-Customer technology (also known as “remote KYC” or “eKYC”) is playing a major role in the digital transformation of financial services in Vietnam. By stacking technologies, such as integrated communication channels and facial recognition, onto video solutions, banks are able to transform remote customer calls into fully operational centres that are just as functional as their physical counterparts.

Banks have been, of course, anticipating the integration of remote KYC into customer service for some time now, and the advent of mass digitalisation over the past two years has led to a quickening wave of remote KYC adoption across all major banks in Vietnam, including TPBank, LienVietPostBank, Military Bank, and Viet Capital Bank.

In fact, the rollout of remote KYC services has been so successful that some banks even reported registration rates of up to 85% that of physical registrations.

“eKYC technology has met our customers’ demands for speed, convenience, and security. It also proves that our banks can enhance convenience and achieve greater operational efficiency without expanding existing branch networks.”  - Nguyen Hung, CEO of TPBank

Banks are providing digital services, and customers are ready to adapt

In the past, anti-money laundering laws mandated that banks operating in Vietnam had to meet their customers face to face in order to open a customer bank account. With the recent approval of eKYC processes by the nation’s central bank, Vietnam is now at the forefront of fintech and digital banking in Southeast Asia. While the nation’s $340 billion economy is dwarfed by others in the region, such as Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, investment dollars in Vietnamese fintech has still tripled from approximately $11 billion in Q1 2020 to $33 billion in Q1 2021.

Most importantly, both banks and their customers are benefiting from this regulation reform. The rollout of remote KYC services has proven to be extremely timely, and customers appreciate  the new ability to open a bank account online in just five minutes. Customers are more than happy to trade lengthy queues and tiresome paperwork for instant verification through video calls. In turn, banks are experiencing a surge in customer registrations.

A digital banking platform in Vietnam, HDBank, received over 35,000 new customer applications within one month of implementing remote KYC, leading to a 25% transaction rate increase.

Above all, investors frequently cite Vietnam’s high mobile pnetration rate (80%) and relatively low number of bank branches per capita as a major appeal factor for banking innovation—one that can be addressed with the mobile potential of eKYC video solutions.

Customer service availability from anywhere, at anytime with 8x8 Video Interaction

Using banking services can be a stressful process for customers, whether they are opening a new account or making transactions and investments. This is especially so in today’s business environment, where both startups and incumbents offer an array of often similar banking options. More importantly, customers don’t always have the time to make their way down to a bank branch outside of their busy schedule. This is especially the case in Vietnam, which only has four commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults, less than half that of Indonesia (15), Thailand (12), and the Philippines (10).

But banks that wish to access Vietnamese customers via mobile devices shouldn’t assume that all of Vietnam’s 71.54 million mobile users will hop on board their apps—especially when the market is saturated with digital banking services. Downloading new applications and registering accounts introduces friction into onboarding processes and the customer user experience.

Instead, banks should bring the conversation to the customers, so as to minimise the number of clicks and taps that customers need to make in order to receive assistance. Video solutions, such as 8x8 Video Interaction, makes this possible by creating secure and private one-to-one video calls that can be accessible through auto-generated links.

These links can be attached to any email or chat app correspondence with customers, as well as web pages, to allow customers to initiate conversations instantaneously. Being completely web-based and mobile friendly also means that customers won’t have to worry about the compatibility or loading issues that are common with native applications.

This allows customers to call agents from wherever they are, eliminating the redundancies and limitations within phone calls, emails, and screenshots. With enhanced video solutions, banks can deliver a true remote KYC experience,complete with a human touch, that provides reassurance and inspires trust.

Scale your digital banking service with 8x8

If you’re hesitant to expand your bank's geographic reach because of the real estate and labour costs of a physical branch, 8x8 Video Interaction is the answer.

Our video solution is easy to implement and can multiply your existing team’s capacity whilst saving you time and capital. It’s designed to help your customers meet their need for speed, convenience, and security, while allowing you to achieve greater operational efficiency and save money on branch expansion.

The bottom line: increased transaction rates and a surge in customer registrations.

Find out more about 8x8 Video Interaction today.