NAB Innovation Centre Vietnam shines at Asian tech awards

NAB Innovation Centre Vietnam shines at Asian tech awards

The National Australia Bank (NAB) Innovation Centre Vietnam has been recognised at the 2025 Asian Technology Excellence Awards for its role in the bank’s digital transformation, highlighting both the centre’s innovation and Vietnam’s emergence as a regional tech hub.

The awards ceremony, hosted by The Asian Business Review in Bangkok on September 18, marked a milestone for NAB Innovation Centre Vietnam. According to The Asian Business Review, the award recognised the centre’s development of NAB’s Pay by Bank, an innovative solution that enables real-time, secure payments. Praised for its scalability and forward-looking design, the platform is positioned as a transformative force in digital commerce.

General director Hanh Tran emphasised the centre’s focus on customer-centric innovation and collaboration with global teams, which underpinned its success in the bank’s strategic digital journey.

"The Pay by Bank solution is the result of seamless teamwork between NAB’s teams across regions and our dedicated engineers in Vietnam. It’s already gone live with partners like Amazon Australia, making transactions faster, safer, and simpler," said Tran.

NAB Vietnam general director Tran receiving the award on September 18 in Bangkok

For investors tracking Vietnam’s tech evolution, NAB Innovation Centre Vietnam offers a compelling case study. Since 2019, NAB, one of Australia’s largest banks, has chosen Vietnam for its first innovation centre outside Australia.

From its initial office in Ho Chi Minh City, the centre has expanded to two large offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, now employing more than 2,200 staff. This growth is accelerating innovation and helping shape the future of banking technology.

NAB Vietnam opened a new office in Hanoi in August

Aligned with the Australia–Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since 2024, NAB’s investment underscores the importance of bilateral cooperation in science, technology, and innovation.

The centre’s evolution from a delivery hub to a centre of excellence reflects not just scale, but customer impact. Over the past six years, NAB Innovation Centre Vietnam has become deeply embedded in NAB’s technology ecosystem – driving critical initiatives in mobile banking, everyday transactions, AI, and cloud infrastructure.

"The award strongly reflects NAB Vietnam’s strong commitment to customer centricity, engineering excellence, innovation and global collaboration – building solutions that truly matter for customers," said Tran.

Vietnam’s tech workforce is young, dynamic, and highly adaptable – making it an ideal environment for innovation. With a strong STEM education system and growing emphasis on digital skills, the country has firmly established itself as a hub for innovation.

Report from Talent JDI

Recognising this potential, NAB Vietnam has invested heavily in training fresh graduates, ensuring they gain hands-on experience and develop critical technical and business skills. NAB Vietnam consistently invests in people, hiring and training hundreds of graduates annually through its Tech Academy, which originated in Vietnam and has since been adopted across all NAB global regions to nurture IT talent.

"We believe sustainable growth matters more than rapid expansion. From day one, we have focused on building a strong foundation through training, capability uplift, and aligning with group standards to build a global workforce strategy fit for the future," added Tran.

VIR