Hanoi (VNA)ꦇ – The Vietnam Public Joint Stock Commercial Bank (PVcomBank), in which the State-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) holds a 52-percent stake, has been honoured as the Best Trade Finance Bank, the Best Card Service Provider, and the Best Bank for Customer Services in Vietnam for 2021 among the Finance Derivative Awards.

To obtain those titles, PVcomBank has worked to apply advanced technology and improve product and service quality, thus meeting strict criteria related to finance and improvement of customer experience set by Finance Derivative and international financial experts. In 2020, despite numerous fluctuations and challenges in the market, with an effective business strategy, it gained a number of recognisable achievements in various aspects. In terms of trade financing, the bank has stepped up cooperation with domestic and foreign partners to diversify funding sources for export and import payments by enterprises. It has also taken proactive and timely actions to assist the businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with total value of outstanding loans entitled to reduced interest rates and restructured payment amounting to 4.1 trillion VND (nearly 178.2 million USD) in. Regarding card services, PVcomBank last year launched three types of credit cards, namely Cashback, Shopping, and Travel, tailored to the spending demand of all groups of clients. The cards enable users to earn points, exchange for gifts, and receive refunds and also feature many other special benefits for users. The numbers of ATM and credit cards issued in 2020 respectively surged by 136 percent and 158 percent from the previous year. Many solutions have also been taken by the bank to improve customer experience and service quality such as providing a service that helps customers earn points to exchange for gifts on the PV Mobile Banking app, giving online financial advice, and debuting the Smart OTP transaction authentication method to enhance security. Besides, PVcomBank has carried out many major projects to better customer experience when coming to its offices to make transactions such as improving office space, minimising procedures, and frequently conducting surveys of customer satisfaction to perfect service quality. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic’s complex developments, the bank has also paid special attention to providing customer service via telephone and email. In particular, it has launched a special service phone number for priority customers, promoted the quality of settling customer requests via telephone and email, and surveyed customer satisfaction over its employees. Last year, the numbers of phone calls and emails to PVcomBank went up 50.1 percent and 265.1 percent from 2019, respectively. Finance Derivative is a global financial and business analysis magazine published by FM.Publishing. Finance Derivative Awards honour the organisations and institutions with excellent performance in the financial and business sectors in the world. They are presented basing on comprehensive analysis of nominees’ most outstanding achievements in these fields during their integration into the global economy. The State-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) holds a 52-percent stake of PVcomBank. PetroVietnam was listed in the third place among the largest firms in Vietnam last year, after Samsung Vietnam in the first position and the State-run Vietnam Electricity (EVN) group in the second, according to the VNR500 ranking co-released by Vietnam Report and e-newspaper VietNamNet. A number of subsidiaries of PetroVietnam were also named in the top 40 of the list, including Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR) in the 11th position; PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PVOIL), 15th; PetroVietnam Gas Corporation JSC (PV Gas, 16th; Vietnam-Russia joint venture Vietsovpetro, 28th; PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), 39th; and PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power), 40th. Other member companies on the list include PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), PVcomBank, PVI Holdings, PVI Insurance, PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation Mechanical & Construction (PTSC M&C), PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PVTrans), PetroVietnam Low Pressure Gas Distribution JSC (PV Gas D), PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo), PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 Corporation, PetroVietnam Ca Mau Fertiliser JSC (PVCFC), PetroVietnam Gas South JSC (PGS), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corporation (PV Drilling), and PetroVietnam Chemical and Services Corporation (PVChem)./.