Around 85 per cent of Vietnamese banking consumers are more likely to use online and digital banking services compared to 18 months ago, according to a new report from SaaS cloud banking platform Mambu.

The 'Financial tribes you need to know' report reveals that nearly two thirds (61 per cent) of consumers globally have made greater use of digital banking services over the last 18 months and two in five (41 per cent) have started using digital banking services for the very first time because of the pandemic. In Viet Nam, these numbers are higher, at 70 per cent and 54 per cent respectively.

The report, which is the latest in Mambu’s ‘Disruption Diaries’ series, surveyed 4,500 consumers globally, including Vietnamese consumers (accounting for 11 per cent) and identifies five emerging financial “tribes'' that banks need to know about in a post-pandemic world.

These key consumer groups include techcelerators, ethical bankers, convenience cravers, covidpreneurs and neo asset hoarders.

Techcelerators are recent converts to the world of digital banking who have adopted digital services amid physical branch closures. Viet Nam was most likely to identify with techcelerators, with 33 per cent of respondents showing the traits of this group.

Ethical bankers are young, purpose-driven savers that want to make a positive impact in the world. Some 76 per cent of Vietnamese consumers agreed that they are willing to pay a premium for financial services if a cut goes towards helping the environment or local communities – the highest percentage of all surveyed markets.

Convenience cravers are one-stop shoppers who want all-in-one services at their fingertips, and at no extra cost.

Covidpreneurs are entrepreneurs who have set up their own business during the pandemic, in need of easy-to-use and reliable business banking services. Fourteen per cent Vietnamese respondents belong to this group.

Meanwhile, neo asset hoarders are new asset owners who want to use financial services to buy, trade and hold assets. This group is the smallest, but rapidly growing tribe globally.

Eugene Danilkis, CEO at Mambu, said: “Each tribe tells us something significant about the way consumer behaviour is adapting and what banks must do to stay ahead of the curve. Traditional audience segmentation in financial services is broken. The one-size-fits-all model, in which customers are divided based on how much they earn, or simple demographics, is redundant in a world of open finance.”

“If banks want to survive, they must think about how to affiliate themselves with the new groups within society and appeal to them with products and experiences that meet their shared values and user needs. Globally we have over 50 million end users on our Mambu platform which demonstrates the growing demand for new and digitally-enabled financial products."

Pham Quang Minh, CEO of Mambu Vietnam, said: “Digital transformation in banking has accelerated in Viet Nam to adapt to changing customer behaviours in the new era. It is shown in our report that 87 per cent of local banking customers agreed with the importance of online and digital banking services in a bank or financial institution.

"Most of them (over 80 per cent of respondents) prefer to save or invest rather than spending money – the highest rates of all surveyed markets, and more than 74 per cent are willing to pay a premium for financial services that save their time and offer greater flexibility.

"Approximately 90 per cent of respondents use online and digital banking services mostly to pay bills, transfer money and check account balances. These statistics will help banks to capture the habits and behaviours of customers in order to create more effective online services and products that can attract customers.” — VNS