Krungthai Card (KTC) is joining hands with JCB, a Japan-based credit card service provider, to launch a credit card in Thailand targeting the upper-end segment.
Both KTC and JCB plan to expand new credit cardholders in the high-end segment in Thailand this year, in line with the recovering economy and strong purchasing power in the premium market segment.
The two firms launched the KTC JCB Ultimate credit card yesterday, focusing on customers with minimum income of 50,000 baht per month.
Rathian Srimongkol, president and chief executive of KTC, said the company plans to increase the proportion of its high-end credit card customers this year, lowering the ratio of the mass market segment, meaning those with a minimum income of 15,000 baht per month.
The company aims to acquire 50,000 new KTC JCB Ultimate customers with total spending of 2.3 billion baht this year.
KTC and JCB partnered from 2006 in offering the KTC JCB Platinum credit card. Platinum cardholders are largely Thais who admire all things Japanese, he said.
Mr Rathian said a company survey found there is strong demand for KTC JCB credit cards from Thais who love Japan, especially in the dining, online shopping and travel categories.
Given the global economic recovery, border openings for many countries are expected later in the year, he said.
The KTC JCB Ultimate card and its privileges should meet the requirements of cardholders, said Mr Rathian.
Ryo Morita, managing director of JCB International (Thailand) Co Ltd, said the strong purchasing power of high-end customers should increase its customer base and spending for the Ultimate card.
JCB has launched Ultimate cards in four other countries, he said.
Mr Morita said the company's business operations in Thailand were affected by Covid-19 outbreaks, particularly during 2019-2020.
However, operations continued to rebound in 2021 and the company recorded growth of 1.6% last year, he said.
JCB expects business operations to improve in the Thai market this year.