Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has injected an additional US$50 million (1.6 billion baht) in its fintech investment arm, Digital Ventures Co Ltd (DV), making it the country's largest corporate venture capital firm.
Arak Sutivong, chief financial officer and chief strategy officer for SCB, said 70-80% of the funds will be used for direct investment in startups to generate an average return of 25-30% annually in the next three to five years.
Global startups are DV's focus, he said. The bank will also support its subsidiary's investment in cases where it would lead to greater opportunities for business expansion rather than financial return.
"SCB has no policy to invest directly in initial coin offerings, but we are open to investment in technology platforms that could be related to cryptocurrency transactions," said Mr Arak.
DV invests in Ripple, a leading enterprise blockchain startup based in Silicon Valley that offers tokens for closed-loop remittance service.
SCB already reported Ripple's launch of digital tokens to the Bank of Thailand and the regulator has no questions about the issue, he said.
DV started operations last year with initial funding of $50 million, of which two-thirds has been allocated to fund-of-fund investment.
In the initial stage, DV concentrated on learning and involvement in the fintech startup market.
The bank recently said it was looking into adopting Ripple's blockchain technology for international remittance services to offer more efficient, secure and faster services to customers.
Polapat Arkkrapridi, DV's managing director, said the company has engaged in over 800 startups and more than 60 venture capital funds in nearly 30 countries.
The company's focus is on artificial intelligence, blockchain, cybersecurity, and data analytics as these technologies can be used to enhance the bank's services, particularly for loans, risk management, small and medium-sized enterprises, and insurance, he said.
SCB shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 134.50 baht, down two baht, in trade worth 654 million baht.