Military Bank leads in CASA ratio, securing spot among Vietnam’s Big 5 lenders

Hanoi-based Military Bank’s (MB) emerged as a banking sector leader in current account savings account (CASA) ratio from mid-2024 to Q1/2025, earning a spot among Vietnam’s Big 5 lenders.

Maintaining highest CASA ratio in banking sector

MB, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as MBB, posted a CASA ratio of 37.21% at the end of Q2/2024 - the highest in the system, according to data compiled from 27 listed banks.

From this point, the bank held the top position for three consecutive quarters, with CASA ratios of 35.66% on September 30, 2024, 38.03% at year-end, and 34.82% on March 31, 2025. Despite a slight quarter-on-quarter decline, MB retained its lead across the sector.

Techcombank followed closely behind with a ratio of 35.1%, while Vietcombank ranked third at 34.3%, down 1.6 percentage points from the end of last year.

The three banks maintained a wide lead over peers in CASA, supported by comprehensive financial ecosystems, strong corporate client bases, robust digital platforms, and effective cash flow management.

The next positions in the ranking were occupied by MSB, VietinBank, ACB, TPBank, BIDV, Sacombank, and OCB.

OCB broke into the top 10 in CASA, climbing from 12th to 10th place after a 0.9 percentage-point gain since the start of the year.

In contrast, SeABank fell out of the top 10 after its CASA ratio dropped 8.8 percentage points in Q1/2025. As of March 31, customer deposits had declined nearly 5% year-to-date, dragging its CASA ratio down to 10.4% from 19.2% at the beginning of the year.

Other banks also saw sharp declines in CASA, including LPBank (down 2.9 percentage points), HDBank (2.2 points), PGBank (2.1 points), and MSB (2 points).

Among the banks surveyed, up to 11 reported CASA ratios below 10%, led by Bac A Bank with the lowest at 2.8%. Close behind were VietABank (4.3%), VietBank (5.4%), Nam A Bank (5.7%), BVBank (6.2%), KienlongBank and Saigonbank (6.7%), SHB (7%), NCB (8.4%), and HDBank (9.7%).

The CASA decline in Q1/2025 came as no surprise, with experts attributing the drop to seasonal factors typically seen after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, which ran from January 25 to February 2. During this period, cash withdrawals tend to surge to cover personal spending, bonus payouts, and year-end business obligations.

However, the drop posed a major challenge for banks, as the shrinking pool of low-cost funding from current accounts forced them to rely more on time deposits or higher-interest borrowings. This, in turn, drove up their cost of funds (COF) and put pressure on net interest margins.

MB’s current account deposits stood at VND251.62 trillion ($9.61 billion) on March 31, 2025 - the fourth highest in the sector and accounting for over one-third of the bank’s total customer deposits.

Despite a 7% drop from the end of 2024, its low-cost funding base remained significantly larger than that of most other private banks.

The decline in CASA across many banks in Q1/2025 reflected a temporary shift in liquidity amid rising term deposit rates. However, MB’s drop remained contained, faring better than peers such as TPBank (–13%) and SeABank (–50%).

This underscores MB’s stable customer base and its ability to preserve low-cost funding, reinforcing the bank’s position as it works to protect margins amid intensifying competition for deposits.

Breaking into Big 5 banks

The traditional concept of Vietnam’s “Big 4” banks - referring to Agribank, Vietcombank, BIDV, and VietinBank - is gradually giving way to a new grouping: the “Big 5,” as MB officially rises into the sector’s top tier.

MB chairman Luu Trung Thai said the bank remained focused on its strategic goals in 2024, reaffirming its commitment to becoming a “digital enterprise and leading financial group.”

MB surpassed its targets with standout results, becoming the first joint-stock commercial bank outside the state-owned group to exceed VND1.12 quadrillion ($42.85 billion) in consolidated assets.

The bank maintained its position among the top three most efficient banks, with high return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), and net interest margin (NIM), while keeping its cost-to-income ratio (CIR) below 30%.

Pre-tax profit reached VND28.83 trillion ($1.1 billion), cementing MB’s place among the most profitable banks in the system. Total outstanding credit surpassed VND811 trillion ($31.03 billion), up 24.5%, with MB Group’s non-performing loan ratio kept in check at 1.6%, and below 1.4% for the standalone bank.

Fueled by a strong focus on technology and digital transformation, MB recorded 6.2 billion digital transactions in 2024 - the highest in the market and 1.6 times more than in 2023 - with a success rate of 99.97% and high-level security features.

The bank also added 4.1 million new customers during the year, bringing its total client base to 30.2 million by end-2024, reflecting continued strong customer trust in the MB brand.

According to general director Pham Nhu Anh, the bank will stay focused on its motto of “speed – substance – efficiency,” aiming to serve around 35 million customers by the end of 2025 and reach 40 million by 2029, while maintaining its position among the Big 5.

The bank will also work to optimize its funding costs and retain its leading position in CASA, he added.

MB executives said a key focus this year is a proposed buyback of 100 million shares to safeguard shareholder interests and preserve corporate value amid stock market volatility, and/or deliver benefits to existing shareholders.

In 2025, MB plans to allocate nearly VND21.6 trillion ($825.69 million) for dividend payouts, with a total payout ratio of 35%, comprising 32% in shares and 3% in cash.

The bank also aims to issue an additional 62 million shares via private placement, equivalent to a charter capital increase of VND620 billion ($23.7 million), as approved by shareholders at the 2024 AGM. If completed, its charter capital would rise from over VND61.02 trillion to VND81.37 trillion ($3.11 billion).

With such impressive results in many aspects, from asset size and profitability to digital transformation, MB has significantly narrowed the gap with the Big 3, excluding Agribank, and affirmed its solid position in the sector’s top tier.