The motorcycle and car title loan joint venture of Government Savings Bank (GSB) expects to lend around 20 billion baht this year, up 25% from last year, says bank president Vitai Ratanakorn.
The state-run bank entered the car title loan business in 2020 by acquiring a 49% stake in Fast Money Co Ltd, which was earlier wholly-owned by Srisawad Corporation.
GSB's entry into the arena aims to provide loans to boost the liquidity of low-income earners, in line with government policy. It also wants to reduce the high interest rates for this loan segment.
Currently the annual interest for this segment is around 19%, down from 28% earlier.
During last year Fast Money Co Ltd extended loans worth more than 16 billion baht at around an 11% annual interest rate to more than 800,000 low-income earners.
Car title loans account for 21% of total loans extended by non-banks with a value of 481 billion baht, while personal loans represent 48% and credit card loans make up 31%.
Recently GSB launched a low-interest loan that does not require collateral, aiming to help low-income earners beef up their liquidity.
The move is in line with the government's policy of mitigating the prolonged impact of the pandemic on low-income individuals.
The loan is only available via the bank's MyMo mobile banking app.
Meanwhile, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives plans to focus more this year on supporting environmentally friendly farming projects, said its president Tanaratt Ngamvalairatt.
Part of this move is to issue green bonds totalling 6 billion baht to the private sector to allow companies to participate in supporting these projects.