Saigon – Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) was honored with 4 awards by The Asian Banking and Finance Magazine (ABF): Project Finance Bank of the Year 2019; Trade Finance Bank of the Year 2019 (for wholesale banking awards); Debit Card Initiative of the Year 2019; Online Banking Initiative of the Year 2019 (for retail banking awards). Each award continues to affirm SHB’s strong position in the market, demonstrates trust of customers, shareholders and partners as well as recognition of prestigious organizations and the community for SHB.

The leading magazine in Asia – The Asian Banking and Finance – was established in 2008. With its leading position and reputation, ABF organizes a system of wholesale and retail banking awards annually for banks with outstanding performance by region and country. For many previous consecutive years, SHB was honored by ABF in many award categories: Project Finance Bank of the Year, Trade Finance Bank of the Year, SME Bank of the Year, Mortgage and Home Loan Product of the Year, Automobile Lending Initiative of the Year, Credit Card Initiative of the Year, Financial Inclusion Initiative of the Year, etc.

The judging panel, which includes many well-known financial & banking experts (representatives from all BIG4 companies in Singapore) gave SHB high recognition based on strict criteria such as indicators, information on policies, capacity, scale of retail and wholesale banking services, indicators, information on initiatives, new products, etc.

Regarding Project Finance Bank of the Year award, SHB was highly evaluated for the “Pac Ma Hydropower Project” with total investment of VND 5.4 trillion, in which SHB provides  long-term loan and short-term credit line of up to 50% of the total investment of the project. The project is expected to start generating electricity by Quarter 1 of 2020. This is the fourth time ABF presented the Project Finance Bank of the Year award to SHB since 2015.

In terms of Trade Finance Bank of the Year award, SHB’s trade finance value in 2018  grew impressively with an increase of 8% over the previous year, reaching USD 3.61 billion. SHB is currently in the top private joint stock banks in terms of international payment and trade finance revenue. In addition, SHB is one of the leading banks in Vietnam with the largest LC UPAS revenue. In September 2018, SHB signed a framework credit contract with the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC). Immediately after the signing ceremony, SHB quickly introduced a financing package exclusively for corporate customers with import and export activities to/from IBEC member countries. This is the first step to concretize SHB’s commitment in accompanying businesses, opening up development opportunities, promoting bilateral cooperation between Eastern European countries and Vietnam. With such impressive results, this year, SHB was presented by ABF with the Trade Finance Bank of the Year award. This is the third time ABF presented this award to SHB since 2014.

SHB’s Debit Card Initiative of the Year award is a result of SHB’s initiative in Visa Debit card customized design whereby customers can register 01 out of 10 different and unique designs to express their personality, interest and love besides the previous default card design. Thanks to this creativity and difference, SHB overcame many other competitors to win the  Debit Card Initiative of the Year award.

Regarding the Online Banking Initiative of the Year award, the judging panel highly evaluated SHB Mobile Banking application. This application provides customers with optimal financial control, all account information, balance, statements, etc. Information about savings books and cards is provided in the application in the clearest manner. More especially, all of the cards used by customers are included in the application and controlled safely. With this feature, customers can monitor all card transactions, adjust transaction limits, withdraw money, etc. according to their needs and can order card locking immediately if their cards are lost or their card information is leaked.

Sharing the joy when the bank was honored with four awards at the same time, Mr. Nguyen Van Le – CEO of SHB emphasized: “The above achievements are efforts of SHB in constantly innovating and improving products and increasing operation efficiency. Especially, with investment in technology, SHB constantly improves product and service quality, bringing customers outstanding experience with international standards. The awards are momentum for SHB to continue improving product and service quality to serve customers; especially expanding international cooperation opportunities and raising SHB’s position in the market”.

Also in 2019, SHB was continuously honored with domestic and international awards in other fields such as: Top 10 most prestigious Vietnamese commercial banks for 4 consecutive years by Vietnam Report, Best Trade Financing Bank in Vietnam by Alpha Southeast Asia Magazine, Best Company to Work For in Asia by HR Asia Magazine, etc. Those awards once again confirm confidence of the bank’s customers, shareholders and partners in its performance as well as recognition of prestigious organizations.