How AI is impacting layoffs in the...

Many banks have announced plans to invest heavily in technology and apply artificial intelligence (AI) in management and operations. At the same time, they are expected to drastically cut staff, narrow the network of traditional transaction offices, and promote transactions on digital platforms to optimize operating costs.

The trend of narrowing physical transaction points in the banking industry

According to a survey by the State Bank, in the first quarter of 2025, more than 21% of banks will continue to cut staff. Experts believe that the acceleration of digital transformation and restructuring of operations will cause the number of physical transaction offices and staff in the banking industry to continue to decrease sharply in the coming time.

Technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), is becoming a hot topic widely discussed in many industries, including banking - a field that is traditionally and long-standing. The impact of AI requires financial institutions to quickly adapt to meet the requirements of strong transformation.

This is clearly shown through recent personnel changes in the industry. Typically, VietinBank - the "big guy" of the state bank - has just announced the closure of a series of transaction offices in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Quang Ninh, Gia Lai, Hue. Previously, in late March and early April 2025, the bank also stopped operating 25 transaction offices in many other provinces and cities such as Hai Phong, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho.

At the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Mr. Tran Minh Binh - Chairman of the Board of Directors of VietinBank - affirmed that VietinBank is the first bank in the group of 4 state-owned commercial banks to research and implement the reduction of physical transaction points. VietinBank plans to reduce several hundred transaction points, replacing them with digital platforms to improve customer experience.

Mr. Binh also revealed that the bank is testing a customer service center model using AI, which can replace up to 70% of operational staff. In the past two years, VietinBank has recruited almost no staff for traditional business activities such as credit and capital.

Not only VietinBank, many other banks are also closing or restructuring their transaction office networks in parallel with promoting digital transformation and applying Big Data and AI.

For example, Sacombank has closed 13 transaction points in 2024 and continues to plan to close 5 more transaction offices. TPBank has cut 300-500 employees to focus on technology and AI development.

ABBank, after reducing nearly 200 employees last year, continues to plan to cut staff throughout the system to optimize operations, aiming to increase efficiency and profits.

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Investing trillions of VND each year in digital transformation

In recent years, the Vietnamese banking industry has witnessed a strong breakthrough in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, becoming an important driving force to promote innovation and improve operational efficiency.

Many banks have spent hundreds of billions of VND to build digital banking platforms integrated with AI. In particular, a bank in the top 10 systems has invested up to thousands of billions of VND each year in digital transformation. This process also creates many new jobs when about 70% of the digital workforce does not have banking expertise such as design, big data analysis, security, etc. and needs to be retrained to adapt.

According to experts, the application of AI not only helps customers to be served faster and more conveniently but also brings great operational benefits to banks. Thanks to AI, many repetitive tasks such as processing documents, comparing data, approving transactions are automated, helping to save costs, reduce waiting time and limit errors.

For example, in 2024, Techcombank deployed an internal AI-based credit scoring system to replace its previous cumbersome human resources. As a result, loan approval times were shortened from days to minutes. The system uses big data analysis of financial behavior, repayment ability, and transaction history to make more accurate lending decisions while minimizing the risk of bad debt.

In addition, many banks such as Vietcombank and MB are also promoting the application of AI in security and fraud prevention. AI helps detect unusual transactions in real time and automatically locks suspicious accounts, preventing losses for customers. In addition, personalized financial product recommendation systems based on spending habits are also deployed to increase the rate of cross-selling products.

However, in addition to replacing traditional jobs, digital transformation also creates new job positions that require banks to increase recruitment and training to meet development requirements.

Mr. Nguyen Hung, General Director of TPBank, said that although the number of employees at the bank is decreasing, the bank has not stopped recruiting. On the contrary, TPBank still needs many high-quality employees in the fields of technology, data, AI, cybersecurity and strategic positions to meet the development needs of digital banking.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/ai-tac-dong-ra-sao-den-viec-cat-giam-nhan-su-trong-nganh-ngan-hang-253717.html