The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) wants to extend digital lending of 20 billion baht this year through its mobile banking application, says bank president Tanaratt Ngamvalairatt.
During 2020-21, BAAC piloted the loan extension of 10,000 baht to customers suffering from the pandemic through its mobile banking app called A Mobile. The app has more than 3 million users, of which 2.3 million are active.
In March the BAAC launched a digital lending package that allows borrowers to use their BAAC savings lottery as collateral. They can borrow a maximum of 90% of the value of the collaterised savings lottery.
The bank targets extension of 10 billion baht in loans via this package this year, he said.
The BAAC is expected to launch another digital loan package this month as an alternative to loan sharks. This loan does not require collateral, said Mr Tanaratt.
The package aims to lend a total of 10 billion baht this year, he said.
The package targets three groups of customers: IT-savvy farmers, village public health volunteers, and staff of the bank's corporate partners. Under this scheme, the bank allocated 4 billion baht for village public health volunteers, 5 billion for farmers and 1 billion for the staff of partners, said Mr Tanaratt.
This year the bank upgraded its digital lending system to add more services and convenience for customers, he said.
Last year the BAAC forged agreements with several companies to act as banking agents.
In 2021, BAAC customers deposited more than 10 billion baht at these agents' channels.
For its 2022/23 accounting year beginning on April 1, the BAAC targets extending new loans worth 35 billion baht, roughly similar to the previous year.