Vemanti Group and PVcomBank launch pilot digital lending program in Vietnam

By Leandra Monteiro

Vemanti Group, Inc. and Vietnam Public Joint-stock Commercial Bank announced a joint pilot digital lending program aimed at driving growth for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam.

The program includes a portfolio of nimble and innovative products collaboratively developed by both parties for the SME clientele. The initial product to kickstart the program will be a financing option designed to provide small US-bound exporters, majority of which are SMEs, access to short-term loans at competitive rates. At the end of the pilot period, the full program will be available via PVcomBank branches and digital banking platform.

“One of our targets is to provide quick and easy financing for the underserved SMEs that make up the majority of current economic activity and future growth of Vietnam, an attractive up-and-coming market on a global scale. We are thrilled to launch this program to make the opportunity of selling to US-based buyers more accessible for those businesses,” said Tan Tran, CEO of Vemanti. “PVcomBank shares our commitment to championing underserved populations of business owners, knowing they often lack access to the more traditional methods of capital.”

Each loan application will be jointly evaluated and approved by both parties based on a proprietary decision-making and credit-rating system catering specifically to SMEs. The approval process is expected to take about a week for a new borrower and as little as 24 hours for a returning borrower. The program offers speed, transparency, and simplicity utilizing a digital platform that streamlines and automates parts of the underwriting and funding process.

Digital lending is now one of the hottest trends in the global banking, financial services and insurance market. However, digital lending in Vietnam is still at an embryonic stage. The program is one of the first supported by an incumbent bank in the country. Vemanti’s objectives for the next 12 months are to grow its product portfolio through PVcomBank and to become a market leader in short-term financing for the export-driven SMEs in Vietnam.

The committed partnership with PVcomBank will further solidify and propel its business objectives as the first SME-focused digital banking platform in Vietnam. On its roadmap will also be other SME-related financial products such as business credit line, employee salary advance, PO finance, equity finance, and more. Ultimately, its goal is to have a collection of comprehensive financial products and services built around the actual needs of small businesses.

Ha Nguyen, Deputy CEO of PVcomBank added, “Vemanti is on a mission to support and empower SMEs, just like us, so the partnership is a great fit. The program is the perfect place to make these kinds of financing programs available that can truly make a difference for a lot of businesses. We are thrilled to be a partner with Vemanti in helping solve liquidity challenges for Vietnamese businesses.”