Military Bank (MBB) has completed procedures to sell 49 per cent stake in its consumer finance arm MCredit Finance Company to Japan’s Shinsei Bank and changed it into a two-member company.

The inauguration of MB Shinsei Finance Limited Liability Company took place on Thursday. Military Bank holds 50 per cent stake, Shinsei Bank owns 49 per cent and Xuan Thanh Investment Development & Construction Co has 1 per cent.

The two sides in November 2016 signed an agreement on equity transfer, facilitating the Japanese bank’s entry into Viet Nam’s consumer finance market.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

Military Bank is the second bank after HDBank that has sold half its capital to Japanese partners.

According to Luu Trung Thai, vice president-cum-general director of MB Shinsei Finance, the two most successful companies in Việt Nam needed more than five years, or even 6-8 years, to attain the current position, but MB Shinsei Finance hopes to achieve success in less time.

“We have a goal of advancing into the top 3 in five years, which means we want to go faster than our rivals and we chose to join hands with a partner rather than going alone,” Thái was quoted as saying on cafef.vn.

Established in December 2016, MCredit turned profitable following just six months of operation, with total outstanding loans reaching over VND1 trillion (US$44 million) ending October. The company has a big pool of customers from the military and defence sectors.

It aims to serve five million customers by 2021, with total assets of over VNĐ14.8 trillion and networks extending nationwide.

In Việt Nam, the four largest financial companies -- FE Credit of VPBank, HD Saison, Home Credit from Czech Republic and Prudential Finance -- hold a majority of the consumer finance market share. — VNS