Infinitas, the digital innovation arm of Krungthai Bank (KTB), has expanded its collaboration with Google Cloud to accelerate the transformation of KTB's Pao Tang mobile application into a super app.
The expanded collaboration will build on the success of the launch of the Pao Tang and Tung Ngern apps during the pandemic.
According to Jakkrit Klinsmith, chief executive of Arise by Infinitas, a joint venture between Infinitas and Accenture, KTB's open digital platforms are aimed at serving the entire population, providing them with a variety of resources for their daily digital life.
Currently, the Pao Tang app provides several wallets including an e-wallet, health-wallet, gold-wallet and bond-wallet.
Mr Jakkrit said Infinitas is now using Apigee, Google Cloud's industry-leading platform for building and managing application programming interfaces (APIs), to advance open innovation and address the financial and lifestyle needs of its users.
With four in seven Thais now using the Pao Tang app, Infinitas is going a step further with Google Cloud to transform Pao Tang into a real open digital platform that democratises access to financial services and offers third-party lifestyle products for improving the quality of life for users, he added.
By adopting Apigee, Infinitas can easily integrate new digital offerings from its existing partners into the Pao Tang app. The addition of micro-investing services, for instance, will make it possible for individuals to invest small amounts of money in government bonds, corporate bonds and other types of financial assets.
Through Apigee's self-service developer portal, Infinitas can also onboard new partners in hours instead of months. This enables third-party developers to easily create new services for Pao Tang's 40 million users by reusing Infinitas' APIs.
To provide enhanced user support across its applications, Infinitas also plans to use Google Cloud's conversational artificial intelligence (AI) APIs to transform its contact centre operations.
As part of its efforts to attract and retain top talent and nurture a company culture that embraces creativity and collaboration, KTB has adopted Google Workspace to complement its flexible work arrangements.
Google Workspace allows the bank's 22,000 employees to contribute and communicate securely regardless of their location or device preference. The bank has also reported higher levels of staff productivity and satisfaction, due to AI-powered features in Google Workspace helping its employees to streamline workflow, minimise distractions and avoid information overload.
Mr Jakkrit said Infinitas is developing what it called a "mini app development framework" to help new partners and SMEs to seamlessly connect the Pao Tang app network under its framework.
To provide Infinitas' partner network with access to specialised skills and expertise that may not be available within their organisations, Google Cloud is collaborating with Arise by Infinitas to run training and certification programmes for graduates and mid-career professionals. The goal is to cultivate a talent pool with deep proficiency in application modernisation, data science, AI and cybersecurity.
April Srivikorn, country manager for Thailand at Google Cloud, said APIs and a talent ecosystem are crucial for driving innovation at scale, enabling an organisation and its network of partners to develop new experiences for end-users rapidly and cost-effectively.
He added that the company is looking forward to supporting Infinitas' efforts to better serve the unbanked and underbanked, while it scales for growth and empowers the workforce of the future.