Financial Services Commission chief says IBK wins Vietnam banking license after 9 years

Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won, who accompanied President Lee Jae-myung on a state visit to Vietnam, said IBK Industrial Bank of Korea’s Vietnam unit has obtained a full local banking license after nine years.

In a post on X on the 23rd, Lee said the president’s Vietnam trip “expanded the territory of K-finance,” and outlined financial outcomes reached in Vietnam.

He highlighted IBK’s license as the most notable result, saying Vietnam’s central bank had not issued a new license to any bank, domestic or foreign, in nine years.

Lee also noted that in January, the Hanoi branch of Korea Development Bank received local approval for the first time in seven years. He said three South Korean banks now operate in Vietnam, making South Korea tied with Malaysia for the most bank establishments in the country.

Lee said cooperation on payment infrastructure is also accelerating, citing a “QR payment linkage agreement” between the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute and Vietnam’s NAPAS. He said Vietnam is the second most-visited travel destination for South Koreans and that, as in the earlier case of India, the linkage adds fee savings of about 2 percentage points per transaction, calling it a practical benefit that makes travel “lighter and more convenient.”

He said the Korea-Vietnam Financial Cooperation Forum also shared examples of cooperation across insurance, capital markets, nonperforming loans and QR payments.

Lee said he would work to further broaden bilateral financial cooperation, adding that the commission would serve as a “running mate” as K-finance expands globally.