Kasikornbank (KBank) is making a further push into digital banking by setting up a new subsidiary, Kasikorn Business-Technology Group (KBTG), with president Teeranun Srihong taking charge.
The new unit's incorporation is aimed at capitalising on the fast-growing online banking segment after the government's national e-payment system won cabinet approval on Dec 22.
KBTG had been upgraded from the bank's IT unit with total staff of around 600. It plans to hire more employees from the business sector in addition to IT employees, said Mr Teeranun, who is also the new unit's chairman.
KBTG will commence operations today and the unit must generate income and contribute revenue to the country's fourth-largest lenders by assets.
The bank has not set a budget for IT development yet.
KBank has frozen new branch openings for a while as it steers towards digital banking. However, it has no plan to shut down its existing 1,119 branches nationwide as a number of customers still use financial services through the traditional channel.
Financial transactions via its digital channel, K-mobile banking, continue to increase. Transactions through the mobile phone banking service surpassed internet banking over the past couple months.
Higher demand for digital banking can be seen in all segments including corporate, small and medium-sized enterprises, and individual customers, he said.
KBank has some 7 million users of digital banking services with transactions worth 10.7 trillion baht, accounting for a 54% market share the first nine months of this year.
In terms of users, KBank shares 37% of digital banking business.
The bank's corporate customers with annual sales of over 400 million baht use digital banking for transactions worth 5.23 trillion baht or 27.5% of total transactions as of Oct 15. KBank projects that ratio will rise to 50% in the next three to five years as it aims to narrow operational costs of 300-350 billion baht per year.
KBANK's shares on the SET closed on Dec 30 at 150.50 baht, down 50 satang, with a trade value of 3.44 billion baht.