Bangkok Bank leads rivals in Lion City

Bangkok Bank leads rivals in Lion City

SINGAPORE : Bangkok Bank's Singapore branch expects to raise the ratio of its Asean customer base to 50% of foreign customers in the next few years, up from 30% now, as the region gears up to form a common market in late 2015.

Overseas clients are the branch's largest portion, representing 80%, and the rest are Thais.

The ranks of both Thai and Asean customers have increased significantly in the run-up to the Asean Economic Community (AEC), said general manager Charoenlarp Thammanichanond.

In terms of Thai customers, the share doubled from 10% in recent years.

Both Asean and Thai customers are expanding businesses in Singapore, most of them in trading, agriculture and food-related industries.

Mergers, acquisitions and cross-trading among regional markets in the past five years are other factors driving growth in the branch's Asean client base.

"Over the past few years, we booked double-digit growth rates in both loans and deposits and the positive trend is expected to continue in the next few years, thanks to the upcoming AEC," said Mr Charoenlarp.

With long-term experience in the local market, strong customer relationships and a regional network, the Singapore branch has managed to expand business satisfactorily amid intense competition.

The Singapore branch is Bangkok Bank's third-biggest foreign branch in terms of loan portfolio size, behind Hong Kong and China. The bank has 26 overseas branches in 13 countries.

Regional banks, which are newcomers to the market, are the Singapore branch's main competitors because of their aggressive pricing strategy.

Less of a threat are two other Thai banks, Krungthai and Siam Commercial Bank, that have also entered Singapore.

Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank awarded a full commercial licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

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