HÀ NỘI — The State Bank of Việt Nam has approved Vietcombank’s proposal to open 15 new branches and transaction offices nationwide.

Vietcombank’s five new branches will be set up in HCM City and provinces of Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, Hải Dương, Bắc Ninh and Lâm Đồng while its ten new transaction offices will be located in provinces of Bến Tre, Bình Dương, Bình Phước, Lạng Sơn, Hưng Yên and Thanh Hóa.

Though it is one of the country’s four largest banks in terms of total assets and outstanding loans, Vietcombank has only around 500 branches and transaction offices nationwide, ranking sixth in terms of network size behind Agribank, LienVietPostBank, Vietinbank, BIDV and Sacombank.

However, Vietcombank is the most profitable bank in the country with pre-tax profit of more than VNĐ11.68 trillion (US$499 million) in the first three quarters of this year.

Many banks have recently also enlarged their network of branches and transaction offices in an effort to increase market share. It is estimated that 25 banks in the country have more than 10,700 branches and transaction offices nationwide, mainly in big cities and provinces.

According to experts, the massive transaction network has brought many advantages to some banks in enabling them to reach more customers and increase brand recognition. — Khánh