Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s great success stories: the country is undergoing rapid development and its youthful citizens are now among the most confident consumers in the world, according to Nielsen’s Global Consumer Confidence Index. This development has brought increasing salaries and with that, a market for more sophisticated financial services. So it is little surprise that the country now has almost 100 local and foreign-owned banks, insurance companies and brokerages competing to offer their services and products to the more affluent Vietnamese people.
The mid-year edition of The Nielsen Company’s Personal Finance Monitor indicates that these financial service companies have a tremendous opportunity to gain new customers and launch new services, but will have to do some work to fully realize that potential. In a monthly survey of 600 people in the two main cities of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, Nielsen found that almost half of respondents maintained a bank account, with saving and transactional accounts the most common.
“Vietnam’s population is young and increasingly exposed to new products and services, and they are open to investigating how these can complement their lifestyles. Combined with increased affluence and economic opportunities, the appetite for financial services is likely to grow. However, many people lack an understanding about financial services products, and firms should not underestimate the importance of education as part of the process of building relationships with new consumers,” said Alan West, Associate Director, Financial Research at Nielsen Vietnam.
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