Be Group joins VPBank to launch financial services

Be Group, the developer of Vietnam’s ride-hailing app Be, has signed a strategic partnership with Hanoi-based VPBank to launch beFinancial services on May 30. 

BeFinancial will accordingly incorporate the lender’s financial services into its Be app, forming an open ecosystem that consists of transport services, payments and reward programmes for both customers and drivers of Be.

Be is not the first rail-haling firm that shakes hand with a financial institution to integrate financial products into its transport platform, as its prominent rival Grab has done the same in a cooperation with Japan’s Credit Saison announced last August.

Grab has also partnered with local e-wallet Moca to provide payments services to local customers and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME).

Meanwhile, the cooperation memorandum between Be Group and VPBank reveals that beFinancial services will be targeting three major customer groups in 2019, including individual customers, drivers and business customers, with tailor-made products that suit their actual needs everyday.

For individual customers for instance, Be Group will be making use of VPBank’s payments infrastructure to launch a co-branded credit/debit card, to equip customers with seamless payments services and experiences. Be’s customers will also receive cashback and other rewards as well as an overdraft facility and an attractive interest rate for their personal loans at VPBank.

For Be drivers in particular, they will be furnished with clear and transparent payments and financial management systems to support their work. In addition, they will be able to get access to loan services at VPBank, including car and motorbike loans with preferential interest rate and extended tenures.

One of the highlights of beFinancial is the financial solutions targeting SMEs. The payment platform will allow SMEs to simplify the business process between different parties involved. Instead of having to pay periodically to suppliers, these businesses can now prepay their suppliers with the credit line or loan provided by VPBank through the beFinancial platform.

Be Group CEO Tran Thanh Hai said: “The cooperation with VPBank in the financial field is a demonstration of Be’s commitment in continuing expanding as well as sharing our ecosystem with businesses in the value chain, in bid to bring the best products to customers and optimise business operations.”

Theride-hailing firm currently has 30.000 drivers who can deliver 200,000 rides each day and it aims to increase the number of drivers to 100,000 by the end of this year.