News
20/10/2023
On October 20, 2023 in Hanoi - Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank, ticker SSB) officially signed an agreement to transfer SeABank’s full capital contribution at Post and Telecommunication Finance Company Limited (PTF), which is 100% of PTF’s charter capital, to AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd., the financial arm of the AEON Group, Japan’s largest retail group, for the purchase price of 4.3 trillion Vietnamese dong. The PTF transfer agreement is expected to bring significant capital surplus to SeABank’s shareholders as well as further improve SeABank’s financial capacity.
Post and Telecommunication Finance Company Limited (PTF) was established in October 1998, it was one of the first non-bank credit institutions in Vietnam. In 2018, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) transferred 100% of the capital contribution to SeABank.
After being transferred to SeABank and restructured, PTF has focused on building multiple quick forms of lending solution; it has diversified products with attractive lending interest rates catering the essential and varied needs of the customers. In addition, PTF has built and developed an extensive ecosystem of networks of partners, especially pushing itself to be one of the leading consumer finance companies in digital technology and its application to the products and services, and digitization, which has improved service quality and customer’s experiences. To ensure safe and healthy operation, PTF has also enhanced the quality of human resources, built and reinforced the management system. Currently, PTF’s charter capital is VND 1,550 billion, with nearly 2,000 personnel, and nearly 200,000 customers across 30 provinces and cities in Vietnam.
SeABank’s execution of the agreement to transfer 100% of capital contribution at PTF to AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd. will help SeABank to strengthen its financial capacity, to further expand and invest in technology, and to promote its business activities in focused segments aiming to become the most popular retail bank.
After signing the agreement, the two parties will seek relevant authority approvals as well as the State Bank of Vietnam’s approval to complete the transfer transaction.
Overview of AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd. (“AEON Financial”)
AEON Financial is the financial arm of AEON Group – Japan’s largest retail group with a strong presence in Japan, China, Southeast Asia including Vietnam.
AEON Financial was established in 1981 as a comprehensive financial services provider within the AEON Group. Its founding mission to enhance the convenience of shopping for consumers has continued to define the company’s activities following its expansion into Southeast Asia, starting with Hong Kong in 1987.
Focusing on the economic growth of Asian countries, AEON Financial quickly started to expand business overseas. AEON Financial has been developing the nonbank market by providing financial services to people who find it difficult to source services from local financial institutions in their country or region. Including Japan, AEON Financial are currently operating in 11 countries and is engaged in the Credit Card Business, Installment Finance Business, Banking Business, Insurance Business, and so on. Also, AEON Financial are listed on the local stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Malaysia.
By the end of February 2023, AEON Financial had a total of 48 million cardholders. In 2022, AEON Financial reached operating revenues of nearly US$ 3.5 billion, shareholders’ equity of more than US$ 3.1 billion and total assets of more than US$ 46.5 billion.
AEON Financial has been operating in Vietnam since 2008 when it established ACS Trading Vietnam Company Ltd. which provides instalment sales of consumer durables such as personal computers, home appliances, furniture, motorcycles, in partnership with domestic retailers, and currently has amassed an affinity partner base of more than 6,700 POS across 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam.
Overview of SeABank
Established in 1994, SeABank is one of the leading joint stock commercial banks in Vietnam with more than 2.5 million customers, more than 5,400 employees and 181 transaction points nationwide. SeABank’s goal is to become an outstanding retail bank with a customer-centric strategy by providing a diverse system of financial products and services to individuals, small businesses and large enterprises. SeABank is considered as one of the pillar banks in the banking system with a charter capital of VND 24,537 billion, ranked Ba3 by Moody’s in many important categories, and is also one of the first banks to deploy Basel III international risk management standards.
According to the development strategy “Digital Convergence”, SeABank focuses on digitizing products and services as well as applying technology in internal operations and investing in building modern technology infrastructure to optimize processes, increase operational efficiency, bring customers a unique experience of digital banking services, and aim to become the most popular retail bank.