KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 14): Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB), via its subsidiary Hong Leong Bank Vietnam (HLB Vietnam), has launched its mobile banking platform, HLB Connect, in Vietnam, which enables customers to enjoy fee-free financial services and shop for e-vouchers in a single platform.

The mobile banking platform takes only two steps to sign up, and comes with a ready-to-use Visa virtual pre-paid card, HLB said in a statement today.

On top of that, upgrading to a savings account is also done in HLB Connect, so customers would not have to step into a branch while the physical Visa debit cards will be delivered to them, it said.

HLB managing director and chief executive officer Domenic Fuda said the bank has been steadily growing its presence in Vietnam for the past decade and is now seizing the right opportunity to offer Vietnamese consumers an innovative new digital banking experience.

"Vietnam is a market primed for digital and mobile bank offering as only about 40% of Vietnam's 95 million people have bank accounts while there are around 120 million mobile phone subscriptions.

"HLB Connect has the power to enable both greater financial inclusion and access to e-commerce to more Vietnamese on a single platform while allowing HLB Vietnam to deliver customer experience that is seamless, straight-through and offers superior value," he explained.

By December, customers can shop and pay for deals exclusively available on HLB Connect.

"Our bank has over 110 years of strong heritage in Malaysia and we have been expanding to other markets in Asia, including Vietnam and we can only do so successfully if we are able to be the enabler of convenience, a trusted provider of financial services and one that empowers Vietnamese consumers to take full advantage of the booming digital economy by constantly focusing on their needs at the centre of everything we do," Fuda added.