Banks must build trust as AI transforms finance, forum told

Banks must build trust as AI transforms finance, forum told

Digital trust will determine how far and how sustainably Vietnam's financial sector can expand in the digital era, as AI accelerates the pace of financial innovation.

This was the central theme of the 2026 Digital Trust in Finance Forum, held on May 12. The event was organised by the Digital Trust Alliance, with professional coordination from the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention and the National Cybersecurity Association, and co-organised by mobile payment platform MoMo under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Security, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), and the Ministry of Finance.

Speaking at the forum, SBV Deputy Governor Pham Tien Dung said the prime minister signed a key decision related to AI on May 11. Based on this, the banking sector will introduce regulations aligned with Responsible AI principles, particularly for decision-critical activities such as transaction approvals, lending decisions, and transaction suspensions.

Dung explained that regardless of how rapidly technology evolves, trust among citizens and businesses remains the decisive factor. If trust is undermined, all technological achievements become meaningless.

“In the AI era, trust is no longer just a customer sentiment, it must be recognised as a strategic infrastructure of the digital economy, built and safeguarded through institutions, technology, risk governance, and cross-sector coordination,” he said, stressing the need to establish a comprehensive protective framework across the ecosystem. “We must move beyond reactive measures to a proactive approach, including early detection, early warning, early prevention, and rapid coordinated response.”

Pham Tien Dung, Deputy Governor of the SBV

According to Dung, one of the most decisive steps to safeguard digital trust is data cleansing.

“All bank accounts have now been verified against the National Population Database. This is a critical lever to eliminate fake and unverified accounts, which have long been exploited as loopholes for financial crime,” stated Dung.

“Safeguarding financial digital trust cannot be the sole responsibility of individual banks, securities firms, e-wallet providers, or technology platforms, it must be a shared responsibility across the entire ecosystem. We need to strengthen risk alert-sharing mechanisms, coordinate the handling of suspicious accounts, detect fraud early, raise user awareness, and ensure data sharing complies with personal data protection and cybersecurity regulations,” he added.

In the context of banking digital transformation, the opportunities presented by AI, and the growing sophistication of fraud schemes, TPBank CEO Nguyen Hung stressed that banks are not just financial intermediaries but also key actors in building trust across the ecosystem.

According to Hung, the future of digital finance belongs to interconnected, transparent, and trustworthy ecosystems, where trust is embedded throughout the entire user journey. He also acknowledged the trade-offs that come with convenience.

“In the past, payments took days or even a week to complete. Now, transactions are completed in seconds. While highly convenient, this also makes fraud, scams, and errors much easier to occur. Fraud has evolved into large-scale operations. While regulators must work hard to devise preventive measures, criminals devote all their time to designing scam scenarios,” he said.

Nguyen Hung, CEO of TPBank

Based on data analysis, Hung noted that once fraudulent funds enter an account, it typically takes only 40–45 seconds for the money to be transferred onward. Within minutes, funds can pass through dozens of banks before being converted into digital assets or withdrawn in cash.

“That is why we see fraud syndicates accumulating such enormous wealth,” he added. “To address this reality, AI is a critical tool. TPBank processes around 5-7 million transactions daily, equivalent to thousands per minute. Without AI to flag risks and filter suspicious transactions, it would be impossible for human resources alone to manage.”

Illustrating AI’s productivity in banking, Hung said that banks receive hundreds of coordination requests from law enforcement agencies daily. Previously, assigning five to seven staff members to handle these manually led to backlogs and complaints. With AI reading documents, reconciling balances, and generating reports, tasks can now be completed within minutes.

However, he cautioned that AI is a double-edged sword, as it can assist but also fabricate highly convincing yet entirely false narratives.

“More concerningly, AI is becoming a powerful tool for criminals. Advanced systems such as WormGPT can automatically scan for zero-day vulnerabilities in financial systems at speeds far beyond human cybersecurity experts,” noted Hung.

“Maintaining public trust in the banking system is both a major effort and a significant challenge for us. Banks are no longer operating in isolation. We are embedding banking services into partners’ products and integrating partner utilities into our own applications. As such a broad, interconnected ecosystem takes shape, cybersecurity and awareness of AI-related risks become mission-critical,” he added.

From a digital financial security standpoint, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Trieu Manh Tung, deputy director of the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention, stressed that AI is enabling increasingly sophisticated fraud, impersonation, and behavioural manipulation.

Tung pointed out that users themselves are becoming the most vulnerable link in the financial security chain.

“In reality, security is no longer just about building firewalls for technical systems, it must shift towards protecting people from psychological attacks and cross-border scams,” he said. “It is urgent to strengthen coordination mechanisms among stakeholders, ensure timely data sharing, and build information verification networks. This is the only way to detect threats early and protect users effectively.”

VIR