Thailand

Retail loan growth fell to 3.1% as auto sales and mortgage growth stumble.

It will be supported by government projects paired with private investments.

SMEs’ bad loan ratio continued to grow from 4.4% to 4.6%.

Krungthai Bank is looking to launch five more retail-like branch formats in 2019.

Thanachart Bank will get hit the hardest as earnings will fall 13%.

Exits for the trial period of the service could start in Q3 2018.

Paperless applications and facial recognition tech for eKYC are key components.

The LTV limit of 80% on home loans will cool demand for mortgages.

FR is part of the broader shift towards the smart bank branch model.

The bank is the first major player in Thailand to apply blockchain to enhance supply chain transactions. Krungsri is leveraging on the knowledge from its Japanese parent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), as well as new technologies to rapidly grow its commercial customer base in Thailand. The bank pioneered the use of decentralised ledger technology to significantly increase the speed, transparency and accountability of supply chain transactions and expand capital access to cash-short SMEs. It has been six years since MUFG acquired 76.88% of the Thai bank, and since then, it has wasted no time in transferring knowledge, skills and all-important market access to its local subsidiary. By banking on emerging technologies, Krungsri hopes to sustain robust asset growth figures in its commercial banking business.

Non-interest income which may have dropped 8% hit profits.

It will start with over 50 dedicated professionals.

He will make the case for whether bank branches still have merit in the digital age.

The firms were previously in talks for a possible $3b sales of SCB Life Insurance.

It will also launch its withdrawal services by Q2.

SMEs can access digital tools and financing opportunities through the scheme.