Thai Credit Retail Bank (TCRB) is considering becoming a commercial bank to better meet customer demand and grow its business.
TCRB is the country's only retail bank to have a Bank of Thailand retail bank licence. It presently offers three loan products: nanofinance, microfinance and personal loans.
Chief executive Winyou Chaiyawan said the bank has operated for 15 years, growing together with local entrepreneurs.
He said most customers want a higher credit line to enable business expansion, but the bank cannot respond to this level of demand because of the limitations of its retail banking licence.
The bank could better serve customers' requirements with a commercial banking licence, said Mr Winyou.
Under nanofinance and microfinance licences, the bank offers a maximum credit line for loan products of 500,000 baht per client.
For micro-SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), the credit line is more than 500,000 baht.
TCRB launched personal loans as a pilot project last year and received a positive response from customers. The bank plans to introduce this loan product officially in the next few months.
He said the bank has been transforming its existing digital wallet to a mobile banking app. The app is expected to be launched in the third quarter this year, said Mr Winyou.
Under the existing digital wallet platform Micro Pay, the bank offers transactional banking services covering fund transfers, QR Code payments and bill payments.
Micro Pay is also a channel to contact the bank's clients.
For this year, the bank expects to issue new loans worth 45 billion baht and keep non-performing loans at no more than 3% of total outstanding loans.
TCRB will continue to offer financial aid to pandemic-hit clients, he said.
TCRB introduced new a micro-SME loan product on Thursday called Standby OD, offering zero interest for the first three months. The loan is only available for existing clients.
In 2021, TCRB posted a net profit of 1.94 billion baht, an increase of 41% year-on-year.
The bank saw improvements in overall productivity, cost efficiencies and synergies in resource management, improving its cost-to-income ratio from 49.9% to 42.3%, he said.