Krungthai Card (KTC), a leading credit card provider, is expected to miss its credit card spending target for this year due to the government's lockdown measures aimed at curbing Covid-19 infections.
KTC's customers' total credit card spending for this year is expected to reach around 197 billion baht, a contraction of around 1-2% from last year, compared with this year's existing target -- an 8% growth rate year-on-year, said Pittaya Vorapanyasakul, KTC's executive vice-president for credit cards.
Given the Covid-19 impact, KTC would also miss its latest credit card expansion goal for this year. The company aims to grow its new credit card base by 230,000 cards throughout 2021, Ms Pittaya added.
However, spending via KTC's credit card customers has been picking up since last month after the government relaxed its lockdown measures, particularly with regard to shopping malls and restaurants. Therefore, credit card spending in the shopping and dining categories has been improving. The company expects marginal spending growth of around 1-2% for credit card spending in the fourth quarter this year, year-on-year.
With a trend of improving levels of consumption, KTC has implemented new marketing campaigns to encourage spending in the final quarter of the year. Beside shopping and dining categories, KTC will focus on encouraging spending on online shopping, food delivery, healthcare, and insurance categories in accordance with the new normal amid the pandemic.
Normally, spending in the mutual fund category would also support credit card spending in the final quarter, which is a seasonal factor, she said.
Twenty-two months since Covid-19 emerged in Thailand, online shopping via KTC's credit cards has grown by around 40% when compared with the pre-pandemic level, while spending on market place platforms has grown by 15%.
Even though the tourism sector overall has not recovered yet, domestic tourism has been improving in line with the state's relaxation of the lockdown measures. At the same time, KTC expects outbound tourism will gradually pick up next year in line with a decline in the number of new infections and the progress of vaccination both locally and internationally.
"Our tourism partners hope the industry would gradually pick up and many of them have been preparing for next year's business plans. In the case that the situation improves, KTC is ready to join with business partners to offer marketing campaigns to boost the tourism industry," Ms Pittaya said.
KTC expects the economic situation and domestic consumption to keep improving next year, thanks to vaccination progress and declining new infections.