Fitch Ratings upgrades international credit rating for MB

For MB, credit rating agency Fitch Ratings upgraded the long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from 'BB-' to 'BB', with a stable IDR outlook. Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has just announced an upgrade of the credit ratings for 8 banks in Vietnam: MB, Vietcombank, VietinBank, Agribank, ACB , HSBC Vietnam, ANZ Vietnam and Standard Chartered Vietnam.

The move comes after Fitch Ratings upgraded Vietnam's Long-term Issuer default ratings (IDR) from 'BB' to 'BB+', with a stable outlook on December 8.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded MB's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) from 'BB-' to 'BB'.

Accordingly, Fitch Ratings upgraded the long-term issuer rating (IDR) of Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) to BB from BB-, the government support rating (GSR) to bb from bb-, and the IDR outlook at stable. At the same time, Fitch Ratings also maintained MB's Viability Rating (VR) at 'b+'.

This upgrade reflects Fitch Ratings' view on the Vietnamese Government's improved ability to support banks in the system, as demonstrated by the upgrade of Vietnam's national credit rating from 'BB' to 'BB+' on December 8. MB representative said that Fitch Ratings' upgrade of MB's credit rating is a testament to MB's safe and sustainable business operations after nearly 30 years of presence in the banking and financial market in Vietnam, especially in recent years, when MB has focused on the story of digital transformation.

With a strong and systematic investment in digital transformation, to date, MB's accumulated customer base has reached 26.5 million customers, an 8-fold increase compared to 2017. As of November 2023, 1.6 billion transactions at MB were conducted on digital channels, accounting for 96% of total transactions. In the third quarter of 2023 alone, MB's digital channel revenue accounted for 21.6%, an increase of 1.3 times compared to the same period in 2022. At the same time, MB is a bank in the top applications with more than 10 million active accounts in Vietnam.

Fitch Ratings is one of the world's largest credit rating agencies, recognized by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Fitch Ratings is headquartered in New York and London, with over 100 years of experience in assessing and providing credit ratings to countries, businesses, and investors around the world.

Quynh Lien