Financial services industry leads in generative AI innovation

From left to right: Eric Yeo, country general manager for Amazon Web Services (AWS) Vietnam, Augustine Wong, Chief Information Officer at VPBank and Daniel Stacey, the Chief Product Officer at TymeX, shared about the application of generative AI in the Financial Services Industry. — VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Financial Services Industry (FSI) is at the forefront of innovation, often leading the way even in highly regulated sectors, said Eric Yeo, country general manager for Amazon Web Services (AWS) Vietnam.

Generative AI is a particularly hot topic right now. Many banks such as VPBank and Techcombank, are utilising generative AI to drive innovation and improve productivity and efficiency. The use cases are vast and impactful.

Visa's 2023 Consumer Payment Attitudes report noted that 89 per cent of respondents are already using e-wallet payments, which is impressive. Additionally, 40 per cent of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Việt Nam now accept cashless payments, and 80 per cent of these businesses have reported that it has led to increased revenue.

According to a recent McKinsey report, the global banking industry is expected to create substantial value through generative AI - estimated between US$200 billion and $340 billion annually.

“This trend is true in Vietnam and makes FSI one of the highest spenders on generative AI, underscoring its potential to drive significant economic growth in Việt Nam,” said Yeo.

The Vietnamese economy is growing rapidly, driven by digital transformation that is benefiting all industries, not just financial services,” he added. For example, IDC estimates that in 2024, companies in Việt Nam will spend $803 million on public cloud services. “We believe that this momentum can be further accelerated by offering tailored solutions. Whether customers want to develop their own large language models or choose from existing ones, (AWS) has the right support to meet their needs,” Yeo said.

Additionally, since 2017, AWS has enabled over 50,000 workers in Việt Nam with cloud skills. Companies like Techcombank and VPBank are actively upskilling their employees, with Techcombank having already training over 2,800 people and VPBank and VIB also investing in cloud skills development.

Yeo said that another positive aspect is Việt Nam's strong entrepreneurial spirit. Many people are eager to learn about generative AI and explore new technologies. For instance, two startups in Việt Nam have been nominated for AWS’ Global Accelerator programme, reflecting this entrepreneurial drive. This strong spirit is crucial for driving the adoption of generative AI and cloud technologies.

“With its vibrant entrepreneurial environment and increasing investment in cloud services and AI, I am confident that Việt Nam has the potential to become a significant player in the AI industry,” he said.

With over 14 million customers and diverse retail and business banking products, the Chief Product Officer at TymeX, Daniel Stacey, said: “Generative AI is the next significant advancement in our technology strategy, similar to the impact of cloud technology in previous years. At TymeX, we are adopting an AI-first culture that influences how we build products, how our developers work, and how we engage with our customers. For example, we use AI to enhance recommendations for lending products, determine loan approvals, and manage repayment cycles.”

“We are pleased to be supported by AWS, our main partner in these initiatives. One example of how we’re integrating generative AI is through AI-driven chat interfaces in our mobile banking apps. These interfaces provide a user experience similar to popular social media platforms, ensuring that our customers find interactions with our apps as intuitive and engaging as those on (other) apps.

"Internally, we’ve developed a custom chatbot, powered by Amazon Bedrock, to assist our employees. This tool facilitates daily tasks such as sharing documents, writing code, and performing testing, all through an AI-enhanced interface,” he added.

As one of the largest commercial banks in Việt Nam, VPBank is at the forefront of applying generative AI to drive innovation. Augustine Wong, Chief Information Officer at VPBank said: “Generative AI transforms the landscape by providing immediate, game-changing solutions. This doesn’t mean that staff will no longer be needed. Instead, their roles will evolve to address questions and tasks that were previously unconsidered. As we learn from these interactions, the AI becomes more effective in assisting future queries.”

Change will come rapidly. In the FSI sector, with increasing investment in Việt Nam, demand and expectations will rise significantly.

“Reflecting on my experiences growing up in Singapore, it’s clear that adaptation is essential for survival. My advice is to proceed with caution: start slowly, assess thoroughly, and then accelerate. At VPBank, we began cautiously, and once we established a culture of change, the demand surged. My team frequently asks when they can see results because increasing customer interactions requires us to adapt quickly. Ultimately, we must do what’s necessary to keep pace,” Wong said.

At VPBank, they’ve been implementing AI solutions, particularly focusing on chatbots powered by generative AI for their retail customers. This has been crucial for their 24/7 customer service operations. Previously, their agents were inundated with calls around the clock, handling a variety of issues ranging from product inquiries to system outages. Often, they had to call customers back, which negatively impacted the customer experience.

However, many customers have concerns about data security when using generative AI and large language models (LLMs). Specifically, there's worry about whether their data will be used to train or develop models.

Yeo said that AWS addresses this concern by allowing companies to bring their proprietary data to services like Amazon Bedrock, where the data remains with the customer and is not used to develop the base models. This ensures that data privacy is maintained, which is a crucial aspect of their approach.

Wong affirmed this, noting it was a key reason why VPBank decided to host their workloads on AWS.

“Security concerns are a common issue when discussing generative AI. We chose AWS because of their expertise and security measures. AWS’s extensive experience across various industries reassures us about data safety. They continuously stay ahead of potential threats, which is crucial given the global nature of cybersecurity risks. We trust that their robust security will protect our data,” Wong said.