Trinh Van Tuan, Chairman of Orient Commercial Bank (OCB) has devoted his life to the development of banking in Vietnam. Tuan was born in 1965 and graduated from the Hanoi University of Technology, the most prestigious university in the capital, in 1988. As the top student of his university, he was one of the few outstanding young Vietnamese in the early years of doi moi (renewal) to get the opportunity to do a postgraduate programme in Poland at the Warsaw University of Technology.

The experience he gained while studying in Europe plus the knowledge he had acquired at the Hanoi University of Technology in Vietnam enabled Tuan to become a successful businessman after his graduation.

He decided to enter the finance and banking sector in 1996, founding the Vietnam International Joint Stock Bank (VIB). Since then, he has held various responsibilities, including that of Board Member and Chairman.

In August 2010, he made a twist in his career life when he decided to join OCB. Since 2011, Tuan has been Chairman of the Bank, and in 2015 was reappointed for a second five-year term. He became the Bank’s Chairman at a time of global economic crisis which had a strong impact on the region’s and Vietnam’s economies and the financial sector. The business environment was badly hit, and it had a huge impact on the banking industry. Internally, limitations in terms of capital, poor products and services, technology, human resource and management also prevented OCB from becoming a big player in the banking sector.

With the experience and insights, Tuan helped the bank overcome all these challenges. Foreseeing that the world’s industries, including the banking sector will be driven by technology, Tuan decided OCB will make huge investments in technology. This was a significant decision which transformed OCB into a pioneer in digital banking in the country with the launch of its OMNI system in 2018. OMNI-channel is a digital platform that allows customers to switch between devices during a single transaction. Besides, Mr. Tuan has also focused greatly on building a risk management system, developing products and services that will meet the bank’s customers various demands.

Under the leadership of Tuan and a professional management team, OCB’s young, talented and enthusiastic staff researched and implemented new products and services to keep up with changing customer demands. Consequently, from just a small bank, OCB is now ranked among top three banks in Vietnam. OCB is now ranked 12th in terms of profits with 130 branches and transaction offices throughout the country.

Tuan has been remarkably successful in identifying outstanding talents and inspiring them to devote themselves to the bank. OCB’s staff are offered benefits such as employee stock ownership (ESOP), loans at preferential interest rates and bonuses based on performance.

The efforts and progress made by OCB under Tuan’s leadership has been recognised by many foreign organisations. In December 2017, OCB was one of the first banks in Vietnam to successfully adopt Basel II standards. From 2017 to 2019, OCB won the International Finance Banking Award for its digital banking products. For the coming years, Tuan has set a target of 30 per cent annual growth in revenues for OCB and 35 per cent growth in profits.