Phongsavanh Bank

Company History

The Phongsavanh Group is a leading group of company in the Lao PDR with successful enterprises in international trading, timber, hotel, telecommunications and security products. The Group has built an excellent reputation in the market and strong relations with government agencies and leading MNC companies such as Motorola, Kenwood, Fujitel and Philips. Under the dynamic leadership of its founder, Mr. Od Phongsavanh, the Phongsavanh Group plans to engage in activities using high technology to deliver better products and services to an emerging middle class and foreign and domestic companies in Laos.

The Phongsavanh Group has received a license to set up the first privately owned bank in the Lao PDR and deposited the minimum capital reserve requirement of US$2.5m well in advance of the Bank of Lao PDR. The Bank has a registered capital of US$10m. The shareholders wish to create a bank that offers excellent service to the individuals, small companies, large corporate customer and government agencies in Laos.

Our mission is to be the leading bank of choice in the Lao PDR by 2010.

We will do this by:

1: Building delivery channels across the whole of the country and beyond our borders.

By building branches and electronic platforms of delivery in each of the 18 provinces we will be better placed than any other bank to service our customers and to provide a platform for effective delivery of remittances and trade services. More sub-branches will be built in Vientiane to improve service delivery further. Our strategy will also encompass building representative and full branch offices in country’s that can demonstrate strong trading ties with the Lao PDR

2: Delivering international standards of service to the Lao PDR banking sector.

PSVB has invested in an internationally renowned banking system – Termenos T24 – and recruited worldwide for the international banking management skills necessary to deliver the standards of service available to global investors. The top-tier management are bankers with combined international experience of nearly 40 years between them.

Our employees are being trained to deliver ‘5 star’ standards of service to our customers to ensure that we live the catch call of our Bank – “You’re no ordinary customer. We’re no ordinary Bank”.

3: Putting our customers first – bringing banking convenience to Lao

Termenos T24 allows PSVB to design and build products and services to meet the changing needs and demands of customers in Lao PDR.
By building delivery channels in each province we will immediately bring banking convenience to our customers through our fleet of ATM’s (24/7) and through the implementation of EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale) – a capability that will enable our customers to buy goods and services across the country using their Phongsavanh Bank ATM / Debit Card. We will also build our own Customer Charter to set benchmarks for service to personal and business customers – quick friendly and reliable service; swift resolution of complaints; simple products; fast account opening; privacy etc…

4: Delivering international standards of governance

Good corporate governance and transparency are fundamental to achieving our vision of becoming the Lao PDR’s leading, most respected and fastest growing bank. Corporate governance is an important focus for our Board and we continually aim to ensure that we achieve the highest standards appropriate to our business and which will give us the confidence and trust of our customers.

The Chairman & Board of Director’s bring with them a wealth of experience from the state and private banking sectors and the corporate business world and will ensure that governance and compliance with Lao PDR laws and Central Bank rules and regulations is foremost on the agenda. Our aim is to build a values culture among our staff where good governance is imbedded as a fundamental building block in everyone that works in PSVB.