Thailand’s KBank targets 5% loan growth in 2024 under ‘3+1’ strategy

The bank is scaling up its wealth advisory business to grow fee income.

Thailand’s Kasikornbank (KBank) has outlined a three-point strategy to improve the bank’s performance, enhancing its lending products and driving wealth management fee income.

It will also form the KASIKORN INVESTURE CO., LTD, from which KBank plans to develop regional business solutions that go beyond banking. It expects this new venture to contribute to 5% of its net profit within the next five years.

The ‘Strategy 3+1’ plan sees KBank targeting a 3% to 5% loan growth in 2024, raising its fee income, and growing adoption of its KPLUS users by around 20% to 30% over the next three years.

The first strategic priority, enhancing KBank’s performance through its credit products, aims to adopt end-to-end transformation in order to elevate the bank’s credit capabilities for business growth.

“This entails driving even closer collaboration with good credit customers with greater customization of service and product offerings, as well as adopting proactive customer retention programmes for sustained growth,” the bank said in a press release.

The second strategic priority is to scale up KBank’s capital-lite fee income businesses. This includes upgrading its wealth advisory businesses by further upgrading it and offering a comprehensive service that can meet its customer's needs throughout all their life stages. 

KBank and KAsset plans to offer a full range of comprehensive investment products, including mutual funds, bancassurance amongst others. 

Notably, the bank intends to grow mutual fund assets under management (AUM) of KASIKORN ASSET MANAGEMENT Co., Ltd. (KAsset) by around 30% to 40 % by 2026. At the end of 2023, mutual fund AUM was THB924b (approximately US$25.95b).

KBank’s third strategic priority is to strengthen the bank's existing distribution platforms and channels, as well as pioneer new ones. 

Under this, KBank forecasts that it will grow its users by around 20% to 30% by 2026 to maintain its leading position in Thailand.

As of end-2023, there are 21.7 million KPLUS users.