The Bank of Thailand is demanding commercial banks discuss whether they intend to cancel physical passbooks in the future because it wants to ensure banks will offer proper services to customers.
The central bank confirmed all commercial banks still offer physical deposit passbooks or documents to customers, but some banks plan to provide digital passbooks as an alternative for those who prefer the electronic channel.
"If commercial banks want to cease passbook service for all customers in the future, they should discuss the matter with the central bank ahead of time to assure they are offering appropriate services to customers. Banks need to take care of customers, processing transactions in a convenient and fair manner, in compliance with the central bank's announcement on market conduct," said Preyanuch Chuengprasert, senior director of the regulatory policy department at the Bank of Thailand.
On Wednesday, Siam Commercial Bank denied a report from Post Today that it will scrap passbooks for customers.
The country's second largest bank by assets said it has no plans to stop issuing passbooks, but will offer a digital option for customers who forget to take their passbooks to make transactions at branches.
Post Today recently quoted Tana Pothikamjorn, SCB's first senior vice-president for digital banking, saying the bank planned to offer digital passbooks because demand for physical passbooks has diminished and their cost is pretty high.