Krungthai Bank (KTB), the country's fourth-largest lender by assets, is aiming for 3 million mobile banking users by year-end and 10 million next year after its full-scale mobile banking app, Krungthai Next, is officially launched.
The bank initially plans to nudge the existing 3 million users on its internet banking platform, KTB Netbank, onto the mobile banking platform.
Customers who have not used digital banking are also targeted, said president Payong Srivanich.
KTB has 30 million deposit accounts.
Even though the bank's app launch lags behind industry peers, the features are comprehensive and meet the needs of all walks of life, he said.
The app aligns with the government's Thailand 4.0 model, said Mr Payong.
Internet banking platform KTB Netbank has around 5 million users.
Krungthai Next will focus on convenience in banking transactions. The app covers government, payments, university and education, medical and healthcare, and mass transit systems, he said.
With the ubiquitous use of smartphones and the recent digital banking transaction fee waiver, mobile banking users number 37.9 million accounts, over half of the Thai population. Some consumers, particularly those living in remote areas still are unable to avail mobile banking services.
KTB would expand mobile banking users step-by-step to cover all segments, he said.
With the technological upgrade, Krungthai Next's capacity is five times KTB Netbank's capacity of 25,000 transactions per second.
Under KTB's transformation programme, the IT investment budget for this year is 12 billion baht, which is expected to be maintained for next year, Mr Payong said.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) plans to roll out new 50 features on its mobile banking app, SCB Easy, in the next six months. The additional features include e-passbooks, e-document requests, slip regenerating (requests for new transaction slips), cashless ATM credit cards, and an upgraded digital lending service.
SCB's chief marketing officer Thana Thienachariya said the bank plans to improve digital lending services next year to make them key in the bank's repertoire by vying in the mobile banking fray next year.
The country's second largest commercial bank by assets and the second largest mobile banking service provider estimates 800,000 loan applications will be made through SCB Easy for 7 billion baht in approved loans this year, he said.
There are 486,000 digital lending applicants so far, with loan approval amounting to 4.7 billion baht or 20-30% of the total loan requests.
Digital lending amount is expected to increase to 10 billion baht in 2019.
The bank aims for 12.5 million SCB Easy users next year, from around 10 million users expected at the end of this year.
SCB Easy users total 8 million at the moment, of which 4.3 million are new customers who joined after the app's recent facelift.