Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor

What Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor does

Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor (CEP), legally Capital Aid For Employment Of The Poor Microfinance Institution, is a non-profit microfinance institution founded on November 2, 1991, by the Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Labor and approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. Operating under the supervision of the State Bank of Vietnam since its 2017 conversion to a licensed MFI under the Law on Credit Institutions, CEP serves low-income factory workers, laborers, poor and near-poor households, and agricultural workers across Ho Chi Minh City and 6 provinces (Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, An Giang, plus Binh Duong via partnership). As of March 2026, CEP served 340,000+ active customers with a total outstanding loan portfolio of VND 5,251 billion (~$210M USD) and operated through 37 branches, 719 staff, cluster leaders in residential areas, and trade union collaborators at workplaces.

CEP's product set comprises Credit Products (poor household credit at 0.4%/month, worker credit at 0.60%-0.65%/month, laborer and seasonal credit at 0.72%/month, emergency credit at 0.4%/month, agricultural loans at 0.20%/month, and supplementary credit), Savings Products with competitive deposit rates, and Community Development programs including CEP House (housing support), CEP Scholarship (376,540 awards over 31 years), CEP Warm Kitchen, and CEP Sharing Love. The technology stack includes a customer-facing mobile app on Android and iOS (loan/savings registration, account management) — making CEP the first Vietnamese MFI with a direct customer mobile app — and a debt management app piloted in 2022 for credit officers to track collections and reduce manual paperwork.

CEP's business model relies on net interest income from micro-lending at regulated preferential rates, supplemented by concessional funding from international development partners (Oxfam Novib, OikoCredit, Kiva, Cordaid, ADB, BNP Paribas, Australian Aid, GIZ, BFA) and Vietnamese commercial banks (VietinBank, Vietcombank, SaigonBank, BIDV, Nam A Bank). As a non-profit, surpluses are reinvested into community programs rather than distributed; the organization claims to have helped 1.5 million workers escape predatory black credit. Distribution is community-led through the trade union network and cluster leaders, with digital self-service via the mobile app layered on top of physical branch service.

Name

Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor

Legal name

Capital Aid For Employment Of The Poor Microfinance Institution

Website

https://cep.org.vn

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor (CEP) is a Vietnamese non-profit microfinance institution serving 340,000+ low-income workers and poor households across 6 provinces with preferential credit, savings, and community development programs delivered through 37 branches and a trade union network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ho Chi Minh City

HQ country

Vietnam

HQ region

Asia

Offices36 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Interest Income from Micro-lending: CEP operates as a non-profit microfinance institution. Revenue is generated from interest on loans provided to low-income workers, poor households, and laborers. Interest rates vary by customer segment: poor households 0.4%/month, workers 0.60%-0.65%/month, laborers 0.72%/month, emergency credit 0.4%/month, agricultural loans 0.20%/month.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CEP is a non-profit microfinance institution providing small loans at preferential monthly interest rates (0.20%-0.72% depending on segment) to low-income workers, factory workers, laborers, and poor and near-poor households in Vietnam. CEP also offers savings products with competitive rates and a suite of community development programs (housing support, scholarships, healthcare, job training). Services are delivered through 37 branches, mobile app, cluster leaders in residential areas, and trade-union collaborators at factories and industrial parks.

Product overview

CEP (Tổ chức tài chính vi mô CEP) is a microfinance institution offering a unified portfolio of financial products and services targeting low-income workers and laborers in Vietnam. The core offerings consist of Credit Products (small loans with preferential rates), Savings Products (with competitive interest rates), and Community Development Programs (non-financial support including scholarships, housing, and healthcare). The institution also provides a mobile application (App CEP) for direct customer interaction, loan and savings registration, and debt management. CEP operates through a network of 37 branches across 6 provinces and cities, serving over 340,000 customers with total lending portfolio exceeding 5,251 billion VND.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CEP House (Mái nhà CEP): A community development program supporting construction and renovation of houses for poor CEP customers with total cost of more than 3 billion VND for 114 households in 2022.
• CEP Scholarship (Học bổng CEP)
• CEP Warm Kitchen (Bếp ấm CEP)
• CEP Sharing Love (CEP chia sẻ yêu thương)

Products and services

• Credit Products (Sản phẩm tín dụng) Small loans with preferential interest rates (0.20%-0.72%/month by segment) and flexible repayment terms to help low-income workers, factory workers, laborers, and poor households create employment, improve livelihoods, and escape predatory black credit. Includes sub-products for poor/near-poor households, workers, laborers, seasonal use, emergency, supplementary, and agricultural/rural development.
• Savings Products (Sản phẩm tiết kiệm) Savings products with competitive interest rates, flexible terms, and multiple deposit methods designed to help low-income workers and laborers build savings habits, prepare for emergencies, and avoid black credit. Customers can register and manage savings via the CEP Mobile App and online lookup portal.
• Community Development Program (Phát triển cộng đồng) Non-financial support programs that accompany CEP loans to help customers use capital effectively. Components include housing construction and repair support, scholarships and study gifts, healthcare assistance, job training, and emergency relief. Since 2008, the program has supported 1.6 million+ beneficiaries across 1,080 houses built/repaired and 376,540 scholarships awarded, with a total program budget exceeding VND 324 billion.
• CEP Mobile App (Ứng dụng CEP) Mobile application (Android and iOS) for direct customer interaction — supports loan registration, savings registration, and account management. Designed to give CEP customers self-serve digital access to microfinance products outside of branch visits and trade-union collaborations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1.5 million workers escaped black credit through CEP loans
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Export Processing Zone and Industrial Park Trade Unions of Ho Chi Minh CitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 September 2023Cooperation agreement with 16 KCX/KCN trade unions to serve factory workers, combat black credit, and implement VND 300 billion credit package at preferential rate of 0.4%/month for direct production workers.
• Provincial Labor Federations (9 provinces)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2023Cooperation agreement with Labor Federations of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Long An, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Dong Thap, and An Giang provinces to prevent usury among workers through three solution groups: (1) Increase access to CEP products; (2) Financial literacy education; (3) Capital supplementation for workers.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Bank Andara (Indonesia): Indonesian microfinance institution serving low-income borrowers through community-based distribution. Regionally comparable to CEP in model and target segment, though operating under Indonesian microfinance regulation rather than Vietnam's Law on Credit Institutions.
• ACLEDA Bank (Cambodia): Cambodian microfinance-turned-commercial bank with a large low-income and SME customer base across Southeast Asia. Regionally comparable to CEP as a regulated microfinance provider serving underserved populations, but in a different national market.

Broad incumbents

• Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP): State-owned policy bank in Vietnam providing subsidized credit to poor households and policy-targeted borrowers. A broad incumbent overlapping with CEP's financial-inclusion mission at much larger scale, operating as a national bank rather than a specialized MFI.
• VPBank (Vietnam Prosperity Bank): Major Vietnamese commercial bank with a sizable microfinance and consumer-finance arm serving mass-market and unbanked segments. Comparable to CEP as a competitor for low-income worker credit, but at vastly larger scale and with a much broader product suite.

Direct peers

• TYM (Tình Thương Microfinance Institution): Vietnamese microfinance institution serving low-income women and workers in Hanoi and northern provinces. Direct peer to CEP with the same non-profit, women/worker-focused microcredit model, though operating in a different geography.
• Thanh Hoa Microfinance Institution (Thanh Hoa MFI): Provincial Vietnamese MFI providing small loans to poor and low-income households. Directly comparable to CEP in regulatory category, target segment, and product offering, though focused on a single province.
• M7 Microfinance Institution: Vietnamese MFI serving factory workers and low-income households, licensed under the same Law on Credit Institutions as CEP. Operates an analogous community-based distribution model in southern Vietnam, making it a directly comparable small-loan provider.
• Grameen Bank (Bangladesh): Iconic Bangladeshi microfinance institution pioneering group-based lending to poor households. Directly comparable to CEP as a mission-driven MFI serving low-income borrowers with community-led distribution, though at vastly larger global scale.

Others

• Oikocredit: International cooperative providing debt and equity financing to microfinance institutions and cooperatives worldwide. Listed as a CEP financial partner; comparable as an ecosystem enabler for MFIs rather than a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• ProCredit Bank (Southeast Europe / emerging markets): Network of banks serving SMEs and low-income segments across emerging markets with a transparent, regulated microfinance model. Comparable to CEP as a regulated microfinance provider with institutional funding partnerships, though operating in Eastern Europe/Africa/Latin America rather than Southeast Asia.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TochucTaichinhvimoCEP
• Facebookfacebook.com/taichinhvimocep
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/capical-aid-fund-for-employment-of-the-poor

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor