Vietnam’s economy continues to develop rapidly and is gradually becoming one of the fastest-growing in Asia. In 2025, GDP growth reached 8.02%, marking the second-highest level recorded between 2011 and 2025. Against this backdrop of strong momentum, GDP growth is expected to moderate to 6.2% in 2026, reflecting a transition from post-acceleration growth to a more sustainable expansion path.
Digital finance has emerged as a powerful engine of economic growth in this context. Vietnam has set an ambitious goal to achieve high-income status by 2045, create millions of new jobs, and significantly improve access to financial services for underserved populations, including SMEs and unbanked consumers. The digital transformation of the financial sector – driven by banking modernization, fintech innovation, and regulatory support – plays a central role in achieving these objectives.
Against this backdrop of sustained economic expansion and digitalization, we examine the emerging fintech and banking technology trends in Vietnam.
1. Open Banking and the API Economy as a Driver of Low-Code Automation
According to VietnamPlus, in 2026 Vietnam is expected to further accelerate the adoption of open banking as part of the national digital transformation program for the banking sector. This trend is characterized by a shift from closed, legacy IT systems toward platform-based banking models built on standardized APIs, secure data sharing, and partnerships with fintech companies and non-financial service providers.
From a B2B infrastructure perspective, open banking significantly increases demand for low-code and automation platforms that enable banks to rapidly onboard partners, configure API integrations, and automate business processes without extensive custom development. For banks, this translates into shorter time-to-market, while for technology vendors it creates growing demand for API management, workflow automation, and integration-platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) solutions.
2. Banks as Platforms and the Rise of Enterprise Automation
This year Vietnamese banks are expected to increasingly position themselves as digital platforms for businesses and fintech partners. This trend is characterized by the expansion of embedded finance, Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) models, and non-financial services built on banking infrastructure.
As part of this trend, banks are increasingly redefining their role as technology platforms serving corporate customers, fintech partners, and third-party service providers. This transformation drives demand for enterprise-grade low-code and automation platforms capable of orchestrating complex business processes, managing partner integrations, and coordinating multi-party services.
3. Customer-Centric Digital Banking and Customer Journey Automation
In a competitive environment, banks are becoming increasingly customer-focused and attentive to their needs. This year banking sector will shift towards customer experience and digital engagement which is characterized by growing investments in mobile banking, personalized services, and automated customer support, reports Vietnam Investment Review.
In the B2B context, this trend is driven by the adoption of low-code platforms for customer journey automation, covering everything from marketing campaigns to customer support and cross-sell scenarios. Banks use LCAP for scale customer-facing services without increasing IT complexity.
4. Cross-Border Payments and Compliance Automation
Regional cross-border payment networks will be continued to integrate in Vietnam. They include QR-based payment systems and real-time payment connectivity across Asia. This development is aligned with Vietnam’s broader goal of strengthening regional trade, tourism, and financial integration.
From a B2B standpoint, this trend significantly reinforces the importance of low-code automation platforms. Low-code approach enables banks to rapidly adapt workflows to different jurisdictions and regulatory frameworks without rebuilding payment systems from scratch.
5. Cloud Banking and Low-Code as an Alternative to Legacy Systems
IFS reports, this year Vietnamese banks will concentrate on speeding up their transition toward cloud-native and hybrid banking architectures. As a part of the customer-focused trend, modernization in the banking sector will become inevitable. Cloud-based and hybrid solutions will transform into supporting core banking, digital channels, and data platforms.
In B2B terms, this trend will raise the importance of low-code application platforms which let banks to automate such key processes as digital onboarding, loan processing, collections, and internal approvals without redoing their entire core system.
Conclusion
Vietnam’s strong economic momentum and long-term development goals create a solid foundation for continued growth in the banking and fintech sector. The industry is expected to continue evolving toward platform-based banking, automation, and cloud-native architectures, with low-code technologies playing an increasingly central role.
As these trends develop, RunRule will continue to observe how Vietnam’s fintech ecosystem matures, adapts, and scales – offering our solutions for automation into the future of digital banking in high-growth emerging markets.