For more than a decade, Vietnam's banking industry has grown mainly based on scale expansion – from credit, networks to customer base. But as this cycle gradually touches the threshold, the question is no longer "how much growth", but "how much quality growth".
In the context of slowing global economic growth, high interest rates and increased technology investment costs, competition in the banking industry is gradually shifting from scale to the ability to create value on each customer, each experience and each business decision.
In that context, ACB introduced the C1425 strategy as a proactive shift, aiming to redefine how the bank creates growth in the new period.
C1425 – when growth is driven by customer value
At the business deployment event at the beginning of the year, ACB introduced C1425 as a way to "code" the strategy, helping the entire system operate according to a unified logic. C1425 is built around a clear positioning: "becoming an effective financial group, bringing comprehensive personalized financial solutions to each customer through a seamless experience, led by technology, data and artificial intelligence".
This alignment reflects a consistent approach: efficiency is the foundation to ensure sustainable growth; understanding customers is the condition for designing appropriate solutions; seamless experience is the way to transform value into engagement; and technology, data, artificial intelligence are tools to expand those things on a large scale.
Accordingly, ACB does not pursue growth by rapidly expanding its customer base, but chooses to grow by becoming a bank "deeply engaged" with each customer. When each relationship is better developed, each experience is more personalized, growth will not come from scale, but from value accumulated over time. This approach re-focuses the strategy: not "how many customers", but how much value each customer receives – and for how long.
C1425 – from strategy to deployment operating system
Instead of being a slogan, C1425 is designed as a "strategic operating system", ensuring that all activities in the organization revolve around enhancing customer value:
C – Customer: putting customers at the center at a deeper level – personalizing and accompanying each financial journey
1 vision: a consistent orientation for the entire system
4 strategic pillars: shaping value-creating engines
2 basic conditions: developing technological capacity, data, organization and risk management.
5 big steps: transform into specific, deployable and measurable programs
This standardization helps more than 13,000 personnel use the same "common language", minimizing phase mismatches in deployment and accelerating transitions.
Three strategic priorities: increasing value per customer
1. Increase value per existing customer
ACB continues to develop retail and key business segments, but the focus is on increasing value per existing customer. In the past year, the rate of customers using multiple products increased by about 15%, contributing to improving fee income and cash flow quality.
This reflects a shift from a transaction relationship to a long-term value relationship, where banks not only provide products, but also accompany customers in many different financial needs.
2. Improve efficiency to improve experience
ACB implements process restructuring programs, standardizes the branch model and automates operations. The goal is not only to optimize costs, but more importantly to shorten processing time, improve consistency and improve customer experience. The CIR ratio may increase slightly in the short term due to investment, but is expected to improve as systems become stable. In ACB's approach, operational efficiency is not separate from customer experience, but is a condition for personalization and value enhancement on each relationship.
3. Technology and data for large-scale personalization
ACB is investing heavily in data infrastructure, core banking and customer analysis platforms. Technology and data initiatives have begun to create clear improvements in experience and operational efficiency.
The transaction rate through digital channels exceeds 90%, while the processing time for some retail credit operations is shortened by 30–40%. This is the foundation for ACB to gradually expand the ability to personalize experience on a large scale, while maintaining consistency in operation.
Mr. Tu Tien Phat, General Director of ACB, shared: "In a market that is shifting from scale growth to quality growth, we believe that the ability to understand customers, exploit data and maintain operating discipline will be a decisive factor. C1425 helps ACB grow more sustainably – by creating more value per customer.
This approach has been reflected in fundamental indicators such as ROE maintained at a high level, controlled costs and stable asset quality for many years.
The strategy is concretized from the practical problems of the customer
Recent cooperations show that C1425 is not stopping at orientation, but is being deployed directly into the actual needs of the market. Cooperation with VNPT in technology infrastructure, or coordination with the Tax Department to support business households in connecting cash flow, shows that the bank is gradually becoming a part of customers' daily financial activities.
In the coming period, ACB will focus on improving CASA, shortening credit processing time, increasing fee revenue and improving profitability when investments begin to take effect.
In a volatile market, ACB chooses to grow from value and engagement, instead of just expanding scale. When competition shifts to experience, data and customer understanding, the advantage will belong to organizations that better exploit each existing relationship.
With C1425, ACB's growth will not come from faster expansion, but from each customer contributing more value over time.
