Home Credit Vietnam shares initiatives at sustainability summit

Forbes Vietnam organized the summit under the theme "The Green Growth Future" at Gem Center in Ho Chi Minh City on April 9. The conference gathered experts and leaders from leading businesses to discuss hot topics on the low-carbon economy, climate change mitigation strategies and the path towards sustainable development.

Home Credit Vietnam was the only consumer finance company to participate as a panelist at the conference, further reinforcing the strong commitment of the leading digital consumer finance company to doing responsible business and contributing to Vietnam's sustainable development.

Lien Pham, Head of Marketing Operations and Sustainability at Home Credit Vietnam, was a panelist at the conference. Photo courtesy of Home Credit

Sustainable development in business activities

At the conference, Lien Pham, Head of Marketing Operations and Sustainability at Home Credit Vietnam, said that any business, whether operating in the manufacturing or service sector, would eventually create carbon footprints. As the pioneering sustainable digi-finance company in Vietnam, Home Credit always focuses on applying ESG standards, especially monitoring carbon footprints in all business activities.

Lien provided impressive insights into Home Credit Vietnam's strategies and specific actions for monitoring environmental criteria in operations following ESG standards, as well as developing initiatives to reduce carbon footprints, with a particular focus on digital transformation. In 2022, Home Credit Vietnam launched the global mobile application Home App in order to completely eliminate the use of printing paper as well as limit emissions generated from both customers and employees' travels during the completion of procedures.

In fact, Home Credit does not directly create consumer products, but it promotes consumption. Therefore, Home Credit always focuses on responsible lending in parallel with promoting awareness of personal finance and sustainable consumption habits, especially through offering preferential-interest loan packages for consumers of "green" and secondhand ones.

Home Credit Vietnam also implemented many initiatives through its sustainable livelihood transition program for women named "Home for Life". Most recently, the company financed a water hyacinth knitting cooperative model in Bac Lieu province, with the aim of both preventing the out-of-control growth of this harmful plant species and taking advantage of it as a raw material to create useful and environmentally friendly products, replacing plastic ones.

Lien Pham speaking at the conference. Photo courtesy of Home Credit

According to Lien, the biggest challenge for businesses is to balance short-term financial goals with the strategic long-term values that sustainable development brings.

"To harmonize these two benefits, Home Credit Vietnam puts transparency first and provides a comprehensive view of the business's decisions and strategies for investors, partners and customers, in addition to integrating sustainable development values into all aspects of business activities," Lien said, sharing her experiences with other companies at the conference.

During its 16 years of operation in the Vietnamese market, Home Credit has always proactively aimed for safe growth, securing its commitment to sustainable development.

The pioneering sustainable digi-finance company

Thanks to these strategies and specific actions, Home Credit Vietnam is the only consumer finance company to be honored on the list of Vietnam’s Top 100 Sustainable Companies (CSI100) awarded by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) for two consecutive years 2022 and 2023.

The company has also won the Global CSR & ESG Award three times in the category of "Global CSR & ESG Leadership".

In fact, Home Credit is one of the few companies that have a dedicated sustainability team. This young and experienced team is responsible for developing and monitoring the implementation of Home Credit’s sustainable development strategies while working with other departments to ensure that ESG standards are fully integrated into every aspect of the business activity.

Home Credit Vietnam’s sustainability team at the conference. Photo courtesy of Home Credit

In the coming time, Home Credit Vietnam will continue to pursue its goal of serving customers and communities in a sustainable way through promoting responsible financial products and empowering people to live the life they want.