Reduces infrastructure management time by 30%, freeing teams to focus on innovation and growth
Accelerates server provisioning by 80–90%, reducing setup time from two weeks to just minutes
Scales banking services dynamically, ensuring high reliability during peak transaction periods
Cuts manual security monitoring by 70%, allowing IT teams to focus on higher-value tasks
Lowers monthly cloud costs by 5–10%, optimizing infrastructure spending
CIMB Vietnam is expanding financial access for underserved communities and Gen Z through a digital-first, partnership-driven model. By using Compute Engine, GKE Enterprise, and security tools, the bank can scale its services rapidly, strengthen security, and ensure reliable digital operations.
CIMB Vietnam is expanding financial access for underserved communities and Gen Z through a digital-first, partnership-driven model. By using Compute Engine, GKE Enterprise, and security tools, the bank can scale its services rapidly, strengthen security, and ensure reliable digital operations.
Scaling a 100% digital, partnership-driven bank
Delivering a 100% online banking experience requires more than just moving traditional services to a mobile app. For CIMB Vietnam, the challenge was to build a secure, scalable infrastructure that could support rapid customer growth, fintech partnerships, and evolving regulatory requirements, all while ensuring a reliable, high-performance user experience.
As a partnership-driven bank, CIMB Vietnam collaborates with fintech leaders such as Zalopay and F88 to bring financial services directly to customers through existing digital ecosystems. However, scaling this model on an on-premises infrastructure proved difficult. Performance bottlenecks, long provisioning times, and manual IT operations made it hard to keep up with increasing transaction volumes. The bank needed a cloud-first approach to enable faster expansion, improved security, and cost efficiency.
By migrating to Google Cloud with Google Cloud Account Team and Cloud Ace’s support, CIMB Vietnam modernized its banking platform to scale services on demand, strengthen security, and automate IT operations.
“Before we migrated to Google Cloud, provisioning new infrastructure could take up to two weeks. Now, with GKE Enterprise and Compute Engine, we can do it in just 15 minutes, giving us the confidence to handle spikes in customer activity without disruptions,” says Rachel Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, CTO/CDO, CIMB Vietnam.
Cloud IAM and Security Command Center provide advanced security controls and compliance monitoring, protecting sensitive financial data while simplifying regulatory management. With this cloud-powered foundation, CIMB Vietnam quickly onboards new fintech partners, launches innovative financial products, and supports growing digital transactions.
Before migrating to Google Cloud, provisioning new infrastructure could take up to two weeks. Now, with GKE Enterprise and Compute Engine, we can do it in just 15 minutes, giving us the confidence to handle spikes in customer activity without disruptions.
Rachel Nguyen
CTO/CDO, CIMB Vietnam
Automating security and operations to support growth
With a growing customer base and expanding fintech partnerships, CIMB Vietnam needed an infrastructure that could support high availability, improve security, and reduce operational complexity. Beyond just scaling its services, the bank wanted to automate IT management and strengthen compliance, ensuring that financial data remained protected as it moved to the cloud.
Managing security and compliance manually was resource-intensive, requiring significant effort to monitor access controls, detect threats, and maintain regulatory alignment. Using Cloud IAM and Security Command Center, CIMB Vietnam now automates identity management and security monitoring, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and allowing IT teams to focus on higher-value tasks.
“Security is one of our top priorities, especially as we grow our digital banking ecosystem,” says Rachel Nguyen, CTO/CDO at CIMB Vietnam. “With Google Cloud, we now have better visibility into security threats and can respond faster without adding operational burden.”
Security is one of our top priorities, especially as we grow our digital banking ecosystem. With Google Cloud, we now have better visibility into security threats and can respond faster without adding operational burden.
Rachel Nguyen
CTO/CDO, CIMB Vietnam
Moving to Google Cloud also simplified infrastructure management, reducing the time spent on routine maintenance by 30%. With Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring, CIMB Vietnam can now track system performance in real time, ensuring that banking services remain reliable even during peak transaction periods.
As a fully digital bank, CIMB Vietnam needed a cost-efficient storage solution for managing financial records and transaction data. Using Cloud Storage, the bank ensures that critical data is securely stored while optimizing cloud costs. This specific service has proven more cost-effective compared to on-premises solutions.
A cloud-first strategy to scale services dynamically and control cloud spending
As CIMB Vietnam’s operations grew, managing an on-premises infrastructure became increasingly inefficient, driving up costs and slowing down processes. The bank needed a way to scale services dynamically, streamline operations, and control cloud spending. Relying on manual workflows for system monitoring, infrastructure health checks, and resource provisioning made it challenging to respond swiftly to demand surges while maintaining service reliability.
Before moving to Google Cloud, we had to manually track system performance and intervene when issues arose. Now, we have real-time insights that help us address challenges before they affect customers.
Rachel Nguyen
CTO/CDO at CIMB Vietnam
With Google Cloud, CIMB Vietnam eliminated manual infrastructure management and automated scaling, ensuring resources adjust automatically to meet business needs. Compute Engine and GKE Enterprise dynamically allocate resources based on demand, reducing IT overhead and optimizing performance during peak periods.
“Before moving to Google Cloud, we had to manually track system performance and intervene when issues arose. Now, we can anticipate and respond to infrastructure needs faster, eliminating delays in service availability,” says Rachel Nguyen, CTO/CDO at CIMB Vietnam.
To reduce operational overhead, CIMB Vietnam embraced a cloud-first strategy, shifting away from costly hardware maintenance and inefficient IT processes. Cloud Storage now provides a scalable, cost-effective way to store financial data securely, while Compute Engine dynamically allocates resources, so the bank only pays for what it uses. These optimizations have led to a 5–10% reduction in cloud costs compared to on-premises infrastructure.
Adds Rachel, “The Google Cloud Account Team has supported our team from cloud skills training to upskilling in three years, bringing in experts to help enhance our cloud-first strategy.”
Powering always-on banking with a secure, scalable cloud foundation
For a fully digital bank like CIMB Vietnam, uninterrupted service, fast transactions, and strong security are non-negotiable. With fintech partners and customers relying on its platform around the clock, any downtime or delays could impact trust and financial accessibility. However, before migrating to Google Cloud, the bank’s on-premises infrastructure struggled to maintain high availability and disaster recovery, limiting its ability to scale with demand.
With Compute Engine and GKE Enterprise, CIMB Vietnam dynamically scales its infrastructure to handle high transaction volumes, preventing service slowdowns. Provisioning new resources, which previously took up to two weeks, is now 80–90% faster, allowing the bank to respond rapidly to business needs. Whether customers are transferring funds, applying for loans, or making digital payments, they can count on a fast and uninterrupted experience.
“Our banking services need to be available 24/7. Google Cloud helps us maintain the reliability our customers expect while ensuring we meet financial regulations,” says Rachel Nguyen, CTO/CDO at CIMB Vietnam.
Google Cloud strengthens CIMB Vietnam’s security and compliance framework. Cloud IAM and Security Command Center automate identity management and real-time security monitoring, helping the bank detect and mitigate threats before they escalate. With Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring, CIMB Vietnam has reduced time spent on manual monitoring by 70%, allowing IT teams to focus on higher-value security initiatives instead of reactive troubleshooting.
Migrating to Google Cloud has also improved network reliability and reduced latency, solving previous connectivity issues. Customers using mobile banking apps now experience faster response times, while fintech partners benefit from more stable API integrations. This enhanced performance, combined with scalable disaster recovery capabilities, allows CIMB Vietnam to expand its digital banking ecosystem confidently, making financial services more accessible to underserved communities.
Our banking services need to be available 24/7. Google Cloud helps us maintain the reliability our customers expect while ensuring we meet financial regulations.
Rachel Nguyen
CTO/CDO at CIMB Vietnam
CIMB Vietnam entered the market with a bold mission: to disrupt and scale a differentiated digital banking model. As a partnership-centric bank, CIMB Vietnam collaborates across industries to drive financial inclusion, expanding access to mass-market consumers, particularly Gen Z and underserved communities. By leveraging machine learning, an agile tech stack, and open APIs, CIMB Vietnam is building a scalable, data-driven ecosystem that adapts to a complex financial landscape, creating long-term value for customers and the industry.
Industry: Financial Services
Location: Vietnam
Products: Compute Engine, GKE Enterprise, Cloud VPN, Cloud IAM, Security Command Center, Cloud Storage, Cloud Logging, Cloud Monitoring
About Google Cloud partner — Cloud Ace
Cloud Ace has been Google Cloud Partner of the Year for five consecutive years, providing one-stop support from cloud implementation design to operation and maintenance. It is also a Google Maps and Authorized Training partner.
