TCRB partners with Community Development Department to provide Tang To

TCRB partners with Community Development Department to provide Tang To

Know-How program for community leaders aiming to create a sustainable quality of life

Thai Credit Retail Bank (TCRB) is partnering with the Community Development Department (CDD) to develop and provide financial literacy knowledge to government officials and community model leaders via the "Tang To Know-How" online program. The ultimate objective for TCRB and CDD is to expand financial knowledge to community business owners. The program mainly focuses on debt management and savings discipline as financial immunity to fight against not only the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also, sustainability post-Covid in dealing with financial related matters. Recently, 275 people from 49 provinces, participated in the course, including officers of the district community development offices, members of the Community Fund Management Center, and community development officers (Central Office).

Roy Agustinus Gunara, Managing Director of the Thai Credit Retail Bank, notes that financial literacy is vital both during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as in everyday lives of participants, especially in terms of debt management and savings for emergencies. Content from the Tang To Know-How program that is taught to community leaders is then further transferred to small business owners in their communities via a train-the trainer model.

"The ratio of personal savings to total spending might vary depending on the security each career offers. For example, government officers who enjoy high job security should keep emergency savings of three times their total expenses; while salaried workers should have emergency savings of six times their expenses. The self-employed such as merchants and small business owners and farmers should set aside savings up to 12 times their expenses and must pay attention to debt management, of both formal and informal debt, through a step-by-step practice-based credit line, a term loan and loan interest. In addition, they should create a part-time job based on their talents or hobbies to generate more income, which will enable them to survive in crises and sustainably improve their quality of life," said Gunara.

Songpon Vijaykadga, Director of the Bureau of Capital Development and Community Fund Organization of the Community Development Department, Ministry of Interior, added that the department organised a workshop to enhance the capability of the Community Fund Management Center on the topic “fine conscience, good plan and good debt management". This project activity was designed to tackle household debt problems, which are a major issue in Thailand. The department was responding to the government's policy to solve the debt burden and poverty and reduce inequality.

The department has asked the TCRB for cooperation in transferring financial knowledge enabling the Committee of Community Fund Management Center to learn about debt management and capital development. Thanks to a government budget, the Community Fund Management Center has supported small business owners through the debt restructuring program "one household one contract". The department expects that the workshop would help create awareness and raise ideas for generating income and finding part-time jobs to boost financial stability of the households and communities.

The online workshops were successful in welcoming 400 participants from 49 provinces. They all were satisfied with Tang To Know-How program that meets academic standards but is easy and fun to follow. Furthermore, TCRB's speakers are professionals and thus able to meet the objectives of the training project. The department is now planning to expand financial literacy training to Saving for Production Groups, which number about 20,000 nationwide. 

"In 2022, the department will collaborate with TCRB to provide financial literacy to the groups. It is a mission of the department to promote and support people in all regions to have knowledge and skills in debt management and good financial planning," said Songpon.

TCRB's executive added that the bank is ready to visit and transfer knowledge on financial and debt management to communities throughout the country via Tang To Know-How program in partnership with the CDD. Usually, the bank provides Facebook Live training on the first and third Wednesdays of each month for small and micro business customers, and the general public. Moreover, the bank is preparing to debut a financial planning program via Facebook Live on September 30, 2021, for salaried workers, ranging from first jobbers to those who have stared a family as well as retirees.

"TCRB is the first bank to be aware of the importance of small and micro business owners that form the country's grassroots economy. Under the “Everyone Matters” philosophy, the bank is determined to support small business customers for better quality of life and sustainable business growth by building knowledge and discipline in financial literacy for all our customers. It is a powerful weapon for small business owners to use in order to survive during times of crisis and also key to creating sustainable business growth," Gunara concluded.

Those interested in Tang To Know-How program, should visit Tang To Know-How by Thai Credit on Facebook, www.tcrbank.com or contact 02-697 5454

Designed by TCRB, the Tang To Know-How program has been accredited by the Faculty of School of Accountancy, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce for academic standards. Satisfaction and efficacy evaluations of three aspects revealed that more than 80% of participants were satisfied with the program content because it met their needs, was fun and easy to understand, and could be applied for practical use. 

In term of participant behaviour, the bank evaluated instalment payments of customers before and after the training. A survey after the training showed that 90% of participants recorded payments to an excellent level with no outstanding default. This clearly reflects that the program content can encourage the participants to understand good financial discipline. For other participants who are not customers, TCRB demonstrated that the bank is committed to taking care of all, from upstream to downstream. The bank doesn’t only provide loan capital but also delivers financial literacy to earn, save and grow money.

Business growth expansion would be evaluated by how the participants could apply knowledge for continued business growth. In the past, the participants who received Nano loans were successful in combining loans with financial knowledge to expand their businesses that met the criteria for micro loans. This reaffirms that the program content could enable the participants to apply the knowledge in practice and be aware of the need for financial discipline for business growth.  

#TangToKhowHow  #TangTo  #TCRB  #ThaiCredit  #EveryoneMatters   #CDD

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT