Bangkok Bank (BBL) has expanded its money withdrawal service at 7-Eleven convenience stores, offering greater convenience to consumers in remote areas.
BBL, the country's largest lender by total assets, has extended its collaboration with 7-Eleven, providing a cash withdrawal service at counters in 12,500 7-Eleven convenience stores nationwide. The banks' clients can conduct the service via the bank's mobile banking app, Bualuang m-Banking, and then receive cash at 7-Eleven counters.
The innovative service will offer convenience to customers who are residing in remote areas where there are no bank branches or ATMs nearby, providing them with a service available 24/7, said Prassanee Ouiyamaphan, BBL's executive vice-president.
As a banking agency, the bank has collaborated with 7-Eleven since last year by providing cash deposits via counter services. The service received a positive response from consumers. On average, the transaction volume of cash deposits at convenience stores is growing by 60% per month, with above 30% of the transactions made outside normal branch business hours.
Based on this, the bank has decided to offer additional cash withdrawal services at 7-Elevens after finding the banking agent model is a perfect solution for some customer segments.
The bank has been developing both offline and online channels, offering financial services in accordance with varying requirements across customer segments. The bank also appointed Tesco Lotus as another banking agent.
"Despite the trend of digital banking, some customers still need to make cash transactions, especially for urgent matters, transactions outside business hours and where there are no ATMs nearby. This new service will also benefit customers with cash who need to make transactions digitally, she said.
Cash deposits at 7-Eleven counters are available for 100-30,000 baht per transaction, limited to 100,000 baht per day per deposit account, according to the Bank of Thailand's requirements.
Cash withdrawals are permitted for 100-5,000 baht per transaction with a maximum of 20,000 baht per day per account with a fee charge of 15 baht per transaction. Depositors who want make financial transactions at 7-Eleven are required to present IDs or smartcards for identification.
A banking agent is an alternative channel that allows commercial banks access to customers in new locations and new segments without having to open branches.
According to central bank data, 30 commercial banks located in Thailand, both local and foreign banks had total physical branches of 6,847, as of January 2020. The number declined to 6,714 networks in January this year.
In January last year, there were 1,168 BBL branches nationwide, with the number dropping to 1,148 outlets in January of this year.