An extension arm of policy credit

Luu Thi Lien (resident of Hamlet 3, Phuoc An Commune, Dong Nai Province) has served for 25 years as head of a Savings and Loan Group (SLG) of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP). Each month, she spends time visiting 57 group members who are borrowing more than 1.8 billion VND to monitor the use of loans, provide advice, and assist residents with borrowing procedures, as well as collecting and submitting monthly interest, principal, and savings payments to the VBSP.

Nguyen Thanh Dung (Party Cell Secretary of Hamlet 4, Tan Hung Commune, and Head of the Hamlet 4 Savings and Loan Group) visits the rubber garden of group member Thi Hoa (of the S’tieng ethnic group). Photo: Van Truyen

Lien is one of 4,546 SLG heads across 95 communes and wards in Dong Nai Province. Together with officials and staff of the Dong Nai Provincial Branch of the VBSP, these group heads serve as vital connectors and directly participate in implementing policy credit programs in each village, hamlet, and neighborhood.

Providing support while exercising oversight

Statistics from the Dong Nai Provincial VBSP Branch indicate that 97.6 percent of the over 4,500 savings and loan groups are rated as good or reasonably good. This data reflects the significant efforts of each individual involved in the operation and management of policy-based lending groups.

According to Le Ba Chuyen, Director of the Dong Nai Provincial VBSP Branch, SLG heads are the first to receive residents’ requests for policy loans. They directly guide borrowers through required procedures and report local needs to VBSP transaction offices, while conducting initial on-site assessments of borrowers. They also play a frontline role in communicating, guiding, and explaining the Party’s and State’s policies on credit for the poor and other social beneficiaries, as well as VBSP lending regulations and procedures. In addition, SLG heads encourage members to save, notify them of disbursement schedules, and witness banks’ direct cash disbursements to households. They also urge members to use loans for their intended purposes and to repay the principal, interest, and savings on time.

Nguyen Thanh Dung, Party Cell Secretary of Hamlet 4 (Tan Hung Commune) and Head of the Hamlet 4 Savings and Loan Group, said the hamlet has three savings and loan groups. Since 2018, he has served as head of a group with 53 members, which currently has outstanding loans of more than 3.1 billion VND. Among them, 30 borrower households are from ethnic minority communities, with most loans used to rehabilitate rubber and cashew gardens. Each year, the group he manages is rated good or reasonably good.

Dung shared that through his role as Party Cell Secretary, he understands the circumstances of each household. When a household proposes borrowing capital to create jobs, he supports the request, but also independently verifies the situation within the community to ensure it reflects reality, offering sincere advice when necessary. As a result, people only seek loans when truly needed and work diligently once they receive capital. When difficulties arise, especially among ethnic minority borrowers, they promptly seek assistance from the group or hamlet management board, helping reduce the risk of loss of state capital.

For example, the family of Thi Hoa (S’tieng ethnicity, Hamlet 4, Tan Hung Commune) wished to plant more than 300 rubber trees but lacked sufficient capital. When she asked the hamlet authorities for help in finding low-interest loans without collateral, she was introduced to the VBSP's job-creation loan program.

Currently, the Dong Nai Provincial VBSP Branch is providing loans to 212,500 cases, with a total outstanding amount exceeding 12 trillion VND.

Thi Hoa said Dung helped her family complete procedures to borrow 50 million VND. Knowing that her family lacked experience in planting and caring for rubber trees, he asked a neighbor with extensive experience in rubber cultivation to provide additional guidance. To date, the family’s rubber garden is four years old and nearing the tapping stage. Notably, by saving 500,000 VND each month, her family has already repaid 15 million VND of the loan principal ahead of schedule. Helping Group

Heads build professional capacity

Beyond their enthusiasm and deep understanding of local conditions, the role of SLG heads also requires solid professional knowledge and skills. Le Ba Chuyen added that in recent years, the provincial VBSP branch has organized conferences for SLG heads across the province. Through these events, the bank provides training in professional skills, political and ideological education, and guidance on developing cultural values and professional ethics in policy credit work, enabling each group head to perform their duties effectively.

Along with the province as a whole, the Dong Nai Provincial VBSP Branch is accelerating digital transformation across the system. To date, all SLG heads use the VBSP mobile application in their activities. However, some are not yet fully proficient, so in the coming period, the bank will focus on technical guidance to help SLG heads apply information technology more effectively in group management.

Ka B’Lon, Head of the Hiep Nghia Hamlet Savings and Loan Group (Dinh Quan Commune, Dong Nai Province), stated that utilizing the VBSP app and other IT applications provided by the bank has significantly reduced the workload of group heads, particularly by saving time on task execution. With more time available, group heads can spend more time with their families and visit borrower households more frequently, thereby improving loan management.

At the same time, the provincial VBSP branch has proactively organized inspections and oversight of group operations. From the beginning of 2025 to date, nearly 2,900 savings and loan groups have been inspected, providing timely guidance to help group heads address issues that arise during task implementation. Timely commendation to recognize the efforts of group heads has also been emphasized.

These activities aim to help group leaders enhance their professional capabilities. At the same time, through their efforts, the significance of policy credit is being spread, supporting disadvantaged households in improving their quality of life.

By Van Truyen – Translated by Trieu Ngan, Minho