Financial news

Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) has chosen Backbase, an engagement banking platform to power its omnichannel banking modernisation. OCB’s goal is to create a personalised digital banking system for each customer across all channels. This project will be led by Backbase’s partner SmartOSC. As a result, OCB hopes to fully digitise every customer journey and touchpoint to provide seamless services via mobile applications and computer platforms.

OCB is the top private bank in Vietnam and is Backbase’s fifth customer in Vietnam. In 2022, OCB expanded OCB OMNI to more than 200 products, services, and utilities. OCB OMNI users increased more than 1.7 times. Meanwhile the number of transactions increased by more than 200 per cent compared to 2021. OCB’s rate of deposit through digital channels also increased by 178 per cent over the same period.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, CEO, OCB, said: “As a pioneer bank of digital transformation in general and omnichannel banking in particular, our strategy is to create a unified customer lifecycle first in the retail banking line of business and swiftly expand to the business banking line of business.

“With the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform (EBP) based on three main factors including: a six-month go-live timeline, full control over building, owning, and customising differentiated upstream and downstream requirements, and local support for implementation and future project needs.

“OCB expects to accelerate customer acquisition growth and double its retail banking monthly active users in the first year of the platform launch. Its goal is to grow to 10 million monthly active users within five years of the launch.”

Addressing previous challenges

OCB’s previous in-house attempt lacked scalability, speed to market, and failed to meet expectations. This posed a threat to the bank’s position as a fast-growing and customer-centric institution. With the implementation of Backbase’s EBP, OCB now has the ability to adopt and build. This aligns with its modern banking culture and customer-centric approach. The investment aligns with OCB’s business model and management values of low risk, efficiency, safety, and growth.

Riddhi Dutta, regional vice president, Asia, Backbase said: “Innovative banks with high digital maturity like OCB endeavor to take the driver’s seat to deliver their own unique omnichannel digital banking proposition.

“The beauty in adopting and building is that banks do not need to worry about the underlying business rules, orchestration of banking services, hygiene security and compliance requirements. Nor do they need to stress about the essential micro services and journeys that are already proven to work across the lines of business and channels they want to re-architect.”

“On day one, banks could start building on top of the platform to customise journeys and experiences for specific consumer segments, products, and channels. This is the reason that go-live for such an extensive omnichannel platform can be within six months.”

Integrating the engagement banking platform

SmartOSC will assist OCB in integrating the engagement banking platform, also referred to as the digital banking omnichannel platform, into its existing records systems. At the same time, it will also address OCB’s initial localisation requirements, by leveraging its extensive experience and solutions. Furthermore, SmartOSC will develop OCB’s mobile banking, internet banking, and employee app.

“We are excited to collaborate with OCB and Backbase at this pivotal time in banking. Having the ability to quickly adapt to evolving customer needs is essential in today’s digital landscape. This is what makes this collaboration so important!” Mr. Le Mai Anh, vice chairman of SmartOSC said.

“We are honoured to work together to modernise omnichannel banking using the engagement banking platform showcasing the best that innovation and customer-centricity have to offer. It is with great confidence that we deliver this project on time and support OCB’s mission of putting customer needs first by delivering high-quality products and services without disruption.”