KBank sets B50bn digital loan target

KBank sets B50bn digital loan target

Mr Patchara, right, and Terence Pang, chief operating officer at Shopee, announce a collaboration on digital loans for Shopee's online merchants.
Mr Patchara, right, and Terence Pang, chief operating officer at Shopee, announce a collaboration on digital loans for Shopee's online merchants.

Kasikornbank (KBank) aims to expand digital loans aggressively by 50 billion baht next year, mainly focusing on online merchants amid the high growth potential of the country's e-commerce business.

The number of online merchants has continued to increase, supported by positive growth of the country's e-commerce business and e-market platforms.

KBank has a client base of online merchants of around 1.2 million, representing the industry's largest share of this customer segment, said co-president Patchara Samalapa.

A large customer base of online merchants will ensure the bank's digital loan expansion via the mobile banking app, K-Plus. A partnership strategy under collaborations with several international marketplace platforms will also support the bank's digital lending.

"We set an ambitious goal for a digital loan expansion of 50 billion baht next year, up from 10 billion this year," he said.

KBank, the country's fourth largest lender by total assets, is ranked No.1 for mobile banking service, with K-Plus users numbering 11 million.

For this year, the bank expects to grow consumer finance, covering credit card and personal loans, by 70 billion baht. From this, 10 billion baht will be generated from the digital lending platform.

Since the beginning of the year, KBank has expanded digital lending as targeted, with new loans logging more than 5 billion baht.

KBank has joined hands with Shopee, a leading Singaporean e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, to offer digital loans to Shopee's online merchants with special conditions.

The bank has set a maximum credit line for the digital loan service at 600,000 baht for borrowers, with the annual interest rate capped at 9%.

Under the information-based lending system, the bank does not require document submission and debt collateral on loan approvals for this service. There are around 750,000 online merchants on Shopee's e-commerce platform.

In separate news, Citi, the largest pan-regional credit card issuer, in collaboration with Grab, Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing application, has launched Grab's first co-branded credit card in Thailand, the Citi Grab credit card. Thailand is the second country offering the card, following a debut in the Philippines.


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