MSB, Backbase and SmartOSC team to drive Digital Modernisation

By Gloria Mathias

Backbase, the Engagement Banking Platform, has announced that Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) has invested in the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform, with local implementation support from Backbase’s partner, SmartOSC, a premium digital enabler.

This marks a step in MSB’s journey toward customer-centric modernisation, advancing its digital factory and delivering seamless experiences that drive financial innovation in Vietnam.

By adopting the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform, MSB is unifying its in-house applications onto an anchor platform. This shift enables MSB’s digital factory to deliver a seamless, end-to-end digital banking experience by building on the platform, from onboarding and daily transactions to product holding. This enhances customer engagement, simplifies product bundling, accelerates unique feature development, and reduces cost-to-serve for MSB’s enterprise customers.

“At MSB, we are advancing our digital factory by combining the strengths of Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform with our in-house developments, gaining refreshing flexibility to integrate and elevate our existing capabilities seamlessly,” said Nguyen Hoang Linh, CEO of MSB. “Through this platform, we will unify, modernise, and launch our retail and business banking channels on a single platform within the next 12 months, achieving the speed, agility, and control needed to scale differentiated customer experiences.”

With the platform as its foundation, MSB can unify and streamline customer journeys, significantly reducing time-to-market and delivering seamless, high-impact banking experiences that set new benchmarks in Vietnam’s financial landscape.

“Rather than uproot and restart, the ‘adopt and build’ approach enables MSB to reinvent their existing channels and apps, upskill their digital factory, and empower in-house talent to unlock new efficiencies and innovation,” said Riddhi Dutta, Regional Vice President, Asia of Backbase. “Backbase provides a strategic architecture that complements and amplifies MSB’s current efforts, fostering growth without disrupting the valuable work already in place.”

SmartOSC will play a key role in localising the Backbase platform to meet MSB’s specific needs, ensuring seamless alignment with local expectations and regulatory requirements. With their experienced resource and deep knowledge of Vietnam’s financial sector, SmartOSC is well-positioned to help MSB achieve its goal of launching both retail and business banking channels within a year.

“We’re thrilled to be the implementation partner for this project. Our goal is to make this collaboration between MSB, Backbase, and SmartOSC a leading example of technology that empowers human ingenuity,” said Chi Hieu Nguyen, Co-Founder & Chairman of SmartOSC. “Today’s customers expect seamless, omnichannel experiences, not just multichannel interactions. Banks must bridge this gap and constantly innovate in the digital realm to drive growth and engagement.”