Vietnamese digital bank Timo announces partnership with Mambu

By Leandra Monteiro

Timo, Vietnam’s first digital bank, has announced it is partnering with SaaS banking platform Mambu to leverage the benefits of a cloud native core banking platform to significantly scale its business. Timo, one of Vietnam’s most innovative banks, offers a unique, user-friendly ‘banking-on-the-go’ experience to customers.

“We selected Mambu’s market-leading cloud banking platform as we understand the value in leveraging a cloud-native, true SaaS core banking platform as we look to scale our business,” explained Henry Nguyen, CEO of Timo.

“The fact that Mambu’s platform utilises AWS’ comprehensive suite of services also gave us an additional layer of confidence and allowed us to envisage the true potential of what Timo can become. Our collaboration with both Mambu and AWS enables Timo to reap the benefits of a range of best-for-purpose technologies and will position us at the forefront of Vietnam’s digital banking revolution,” he continued.

The Vietnamese banking and financial services industry is ripe for disruption and innovation, with low rates of formal financial inclusion but very high rates of smartphone ownership and internet penetration, and a young, digitally-savvy population. The Vietnamese government is also proactively pushing for innovation, aiming for 80 per cent of the adult population to be ‘banked’ by 2025.

“Mambu strives to work with organisations that are truly focused on improving financial inclusion and making banking better, and we have certainly found that with Timo,” said Myles Bertrand, Managing Director APAC at Mambu. “We are delighted to be partnering with Timo, an innovative and forward-thinking organisation that has already made such a significant positive impact in Vietnam. We look forward to working together to enable rapid growth for Timo and to make a real difference to the way banking services are delivered in Vietnam.”

There is currently significant opportunity for Vietnam to attract FDI in the digital banking space, with the Vietnamese market proving very attractive to overseas banks and private equity firms due to digital-savvy Vietnamese consumers. The rise of digital banking in the country will also enable financial institutions to tap the unbanked as well as provide customised solutions to the rising middle class.

“Vietnam is an incredibly important market for Mambu,” shared Pham Quang Minh, General Manager Vietnam, Mambu. “And we are very proud to have formed this partnership with Timo, one of the country’s leading digital banks. Mambu is committed to continuing our investment in Vietnam to extend our help to established banks and financial institutions to help them transform their legacy infrastructure, enhance their digital capabilities and deliver tailored customer experiences.”