The Mall Group, one of the country's leading retail developers, has teamed up with Siam Commercial Bank to offer customers a retail shopping financial solution to respond to the government's drive towards a cashless digital economy.
The two companies yesterday launched SCB M, a co-branded Visa card that can function as a credit, debit, prepaid or gift card.
The card offers QR code payment via a virtual card in the SCB Easy application.
This collaborative card will give users access to banking agent services, offering financial services and allowing The Mall customers to buy insurance and pay bills at store cashiers.
"This card is the first stage of the experiential shopping evolution. We provide several features with this card that are the first of their kind in Thailand's retail industry," said Supaluck Umpujh, the company's chairwoman.
She said SCB M cardholders will be allowed to reserve car parking via the M Card app, and shoppers will be eligible for free delivery for any purchase of 5,000 baht in a service radius of 5-10km, as well as purchase protection.
SCB M will also receive privileges from overseas retail partners such as Big Camera, Isetan, Parco, Tokyo Hand, Harrods, Selfridges and Galeries Lafayette.
With the launch of the SCB M card, the company will halt the joint credit card with Citi Group by the end of September.
The company expects to have 500,000 cardholders using SCB M, with spending through cards of over 20 billion baht in the first year of operation.
Some 45% of shoppers at The Mall department store shop with cash, and the rest use electronic cards.
With the launch of the SCB M card, the usage of electronic cards for shopping is expected to rise by 70-80% in the near future.
SCB M is the second collaboration between The Mall Group and SCB. The first was last year's cashless retail experience, and further collaboration for shopping experiences with digital banking will be launched by the end of this year.
"The new collaboration demonstrates a strong partnership between the two firms by writing a new page in the history of retail shopping," said Vichit Suraphongchai, chairman of SCB's executive committee. "We are changing customers' lifestyles and the way they shop by allowing customers to enjoy a seamless shopping experience using digital technology and merging online and offline transactions to adapt to customer lifestyles."
Ms Supaluck said the company will allocate 250 million baht to promote SCB M through the year's end.