GH Bank to kick off savings lotteries

GH Bank to kick off savings lotteries

State-owned financial institution plans to raise funds worth B100bn

Government Housing Bank's headquarters on Rama IX Road.
Government Housing Bank's headquarters on Rama IX Road.

State-owned GH Bank plans to raise funds worth 100 billion baht by issuing its first savings lotteries over the course of two years, starting from September, its head says.

The savings lottery is aimed at solving the bank's asset-liability mismatch problem, as housing loans typically have a long maturity while the lender uses deposits as a main funding source, said president Chatchai Sirilai.

Of the 100 billion baht in three-year maturity savings lotteries, 20 billion baht will be issued in the first lot, 30 billion baht in the second and the remaining 50 billion baht in the final batch.

The bank's first batch of lotteries linked with savings products is scheduled for September, with a price of 1 million baht per ticket. Savings lottery holders have a chance to win five 200,000-baht prizes, with either monthly or semi-monthly draws tentatively.

The second lot with a ticket price of 10 million baht will comprise five to 10 prizes of 500,000 baht each, with tentatively one or two draws a month, he said, adding that the second tranche of the savings lottery is expected to be available late this year.

The third lot, slated to be offered next year, will be sold at a price of 500 baht per ticket and the bank is contemplating prizes, which could be cash or gold.

Those who plan to subscribe to the bank's savings lotteries are required to open special savings accounts, which will be launched in May. The state-owned mortgage lender will automatically transfer money deposits into the savings accounts to purchase savings lotteries as account holders demand.

The National Legislative Assembly recently approved the amended Government Housing Bank Act to enable the state-run mortgage lender to mobilise funds by issuing savings lotteries.

Mr Chatchai said the bank's savings lottery is targeted at affluent customers who want a higher return than deposits, as the buyers have a chance to win prizes.

GH Bank's savings lottery holders will have a greater chance to win prizes than at other banks because of the lower number of tickets, he said.

For example, a mere 3,000 tickets of the 10-million-baht savings lottery will go on sale.

Savings lottery products are currently only available at two state-owned banks: Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

Mr Chatchai said GH Bank aims to lend 203 billion baht this year, compared with 213 billion in the previous year.

Non-performing loans were 4.17% of loans outstanding worth 1.12 trillion baht at the end of last year.

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