Partnership aims

• Accelerate economic opportunities and empowerment for low income populations, especially women-led microenterprises.
• Lower the cost of banking as well as provide access to more diversified banking services.
• Enable VBSP and its selected partners to roll out SMS banking and pilot the first mobile banking solution for VBSP customers.
• Allow VBSP to gradually deploy mobile banking services to its increasing client base. 
• Improve communication, transparency and accountability in savings services and mitigate misappropriation in the service delivery channel. 

 

TIMELINE

Start date: September 2016

End date: August 2018

INDUSTRY SECTOR

Financial Services; Women's Economic Empowerment

Shared value

Shared value is defined as policies and practices that enhance the competitiveness of companies while improving social and environmental conditions in the regions where they operate. It is a business strategy focused on companies creating measurable economic benefit by identifying and addressing social problems that intersect with their business. To qualify as shared value, there must be an identifiable economic benefit to the company as well as measurable impact on a social or environmental issue.

The BPP is helping businesses partner with the Australian aid program in achieving shared value – advancing both social and economic objectives. These partnerships are primarily being created in one or more of the following ways:

• Reconceiving products and/or markets
• Redefining productivity in the value chain
• Enabling local cluster development

Reconceiving products or/and markets

The initiative proposes a two-track business model and phased approach to implementation, starting in peri-urban areas and gradually expanding into the rural and remote regions of the country, reaching close to seven million active clients. Track 1 will provide VBSP with the capability to send account-related information via SMS texts to clients, such as repayment schedules and reminders and monthly account balances. Track 2 will introduce mobile banking capabilities to initiate financial transactions on phones on behalf of VBSP clients, including loan repayments and cash deposits and withdrawals, and send transaction confirmations to clients.

Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment

The partnership will increase access to financial services for women and women-led microenterprises. TAF will aim for at least 70 percent of VBSP beneficiaries to be women; this includes VBSP staff, clients and group leaders who will receive training on SMS notification and mobile banking services.

Partner information

The partnership is between The Asia Foundation, Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), Mastercard and DFAT.

The Asia Foundation

 

 

The Asia Foundation (TAF) is a nonprofit international development organisation with offices in 18 countries. TAF is committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia, addressing the critical issues affecting Asia in the 21st century by: strengthening governance, expanding economic opportunity, increasing environmental resilience, empowering women, and promoting international cooperation. The Asia Foundation will facilitate partnership relations, particularly in coordinating strategic, human resource, and technical training needed to build VBSP’s operational and marketing capacity, as well as institutional buy-in, in applying mobile technology.

Vietnam Bank for Social Policies

 

 

The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) is a government-owned bank, taking the lead in policy and the microfinance field in Vietnam. It enables financial inclusion of the poor and policy beneficiaries through grassroots networks, appropriate infrastructure, socialised procedures and skillful staff. The VBSP will be the implementing partner and owner of the mobile banking application.

MasterCard

 

 

MasterCard is an American multinational financial services corporation. Its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use MasterCard. MasterCard will assist VBSP to develop a detailed strategic plan from gap analysis, solution design, business planning, key performance indicators, to pilot and full roll-out of the solution, based on in-depth review of VBSP technology, products, operations, and financials.