Hana Bank teams with KIND and Vietnam’s BIDV to expand infrastructure finance and QR payments

Hana Bank is partnering with a Vietnamese state-owned bank and a South Korean public agency to expand its finance and payments footprint in Vietnam.

The bank said April 26 that it signed a three-party memorandum of understanding with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, known as BIDV, and the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corp., or KIND, at the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum held April 23 in Hanoi.

Under the agreement, the three organizations plan to build a strategic partnership in infrastructure and energy, urban development and green sectors, and to jointly identify investment opportunities to support Korean companies entering the market. Hana Bank also said it will deepen cooperation with BIDV, one of Vietnam’s four major state-owned banks, to set up a collaboration system linking investment development and finance.

Hana Bank is also moving into Vietnam’s digital payments market. Working with its subsidiary GLN International, it partnered with Vietnam’s National Payment Corp., known as NAPAS, and BIDV to launch a cross-border QR payment service. Hana Bank said it is the only Korean financial institution participating in the project as a settlement bank, while GLN will operate payments directly connected to Vietnam’s national QR payment network.

Users can pay at major tourist destinations including Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc through domestic banking and financial technology apps without exchanging currency, the bank said.

“By combining Vietnam’s growth potential with Hana Bank’s international financial capabilities, we will create tangible value,” CEO Lee Ho-seong said. He said the bank will provide convenient and stable services through a strategy spanning infrastructure finance and digital payments, while advancing its global payment network.