CASA Race Heats Up as Vietnamese Lenders Build Financial Ecosystems

The competition for Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) deposits in Vietnam's banking industry is entering a new phase, as lenders shift focus from technological features and free services towards building comprehensive ecosystems, managing cash flow, and leveraging data to attract low-cost capital.

The boom in CASA growth seen between 2020 and 2023, driven largely by banking digitalisation and zero-fee transfer policies, has waned. That competitive advantage has now largely disappeared, as most banks offer free transactions and digital banking applications with comparable user experiences and processing speeds.

Phan Hoàng Minh, head of the Corporate Customer Department at Agribank’s An Giang branch, said that the era of easy CASA growth fueled by free transactions has concluded. "Currently, business cash flow management, integrated consumer ecosystems, or flexible deposit products with the potential for automatic returns are key to retaining customers," Minh said.

This shift has led many banks to change their strategic objective from simply encouraging customers to open multiple accounts to becoming their primary transaction bank. The distinction is significant: while a customer may hold accounts at several institutions, only one serves as the main hub for their daily cash flow. Banks that secure this primary position gain a sustainable, long-term CASA advantage.

The leading banks in CASA ratios all possess distinct advantages in attracting and retaining customer deposits. As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, Vietcombank led the sector with a ratio of demand deposits to total customer deposits of approximately 32.6 per cent, though this marked a decrease of nearly three percentage points from the end of 2025. MB and Techcombank followed closely with ratios of 32.3 per cent and 31.4 per cent, respectively.

A common strength among these leaders is their ability to control transaction cash flow. Vietcombank maintains a significant edge through its large volume of payroll accounts from the public sector and foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises. MB benefits from its military-linked ecosystem, a customer base with high payrolls, and a digital platform that facilitates high transaction frequency. Meanwhile, Techcombank has long pursued a zero-fee strategy while building an integrated ecosystem spanning finance, securities, insurance, and real estate to deepen customer engagement and keep cash flow within its system.

The CASA race is evolving from a traditional transactional banking model to a 'super financial ecosystem' approach. Banks are no longer competing solely on interest rates or digital platforms but are aiming to be present throughout a customer's entire financial life cycle. Customers are increasingly likely to choose a bank that provides more convenient transactions, superior multi-platform connectivity, better personal finance management tools, seamless integration of investment and consumption, faster customer service, and a richer ecosystem.

To achieve this, several banks are concentrating on three core pillars to boost CASA and retain funds.

The first pillar is controlling retail cash flow, the segment generating the highest transaction frequency. Banks are actively forming partnerships with supermarkets, e-commerce platforms, e-wallets, and businesses in the education, healthcare, transportation, and tourism sectors to establish their accounts as central payment instruments.

The second pillar involves managing corporate cash flow, which is now viewed as a new gold mine. By controlling the payment flows of businesses, banks can maintain substantial demand deposits at a low cost. Lenders are promoting solutions for cash flow management, trade finance, letters of credit, supply chain payments, and automated payroll to capture cash flow from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The third pillar, a prominent recent trend, is the development of automated interest-bearing account products. Instead of letting funds sit idle, many banks are creating products that automatically convert account balances into flexible, income-generating instruments while ensuring immediate payment capability. This model helps banks keep funds within their ecosystem rather than seeing customers transfer them to other banks or external investment channels.

According to Minh, sustainable CASA attraction requires banks to build a consumer ecosystem broad enough to be present throughout the entire customer spending journey, from bill payments and shopping to education, healthcare, investment, and insurance.

"Banks are positioned as comprehensive financial centres — not just places to deposit money, but also places where customers manage their assets, investments, insurance and daily cash flow," he stated.

Minh also highlighted that personalising the digital experience is becoming a dominant trend. Users no longer lack banking applications; they lack financial solutions tailored to their individual needs. In this context, artificial intelligence and big data are expected to be crucial tools for banks to enhance customer engagement and retention.