Top Thai billionaires-backed groups win digital bank permits
ACM Holding, which is part of CP Group, and Advanced Info Service, a Gulf Development's mobile phone affiliate, secured the permits, Bank of Thailand said on Thursday (Jun 19). SCB X, which formed a consortium that includes China's WeBank and South Korea's KakaoBank, also obtained the virtual bank licence.
'We have high hopes that the new licences will increase competition in the banking industry with new innovation and technology,' deputy governor Roong Mallikamas told a press briefing. The announcement came amid a fresh political turmoil in the country that puts the current government on the brink of collapse.
The nation is opening its banking industry to more competition that will allow greater access to loans for under-served consumers, following similar moves across Asia. Still, the new virtual banking operators will confront a landscape where traditional lenders are saddled with rising bad loans and weakening credit demand on the back of a soft economy.
The timing of these permits is 'tricky and throws up a number of challenges,' said Sarah Jane Mahmud, a senior bank analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. 'Singapore digital banks have yet to break even, three years after going live,' she said. 'With hefty investment in digital platforms and marketing, Thai digital banks could face a longer wait to generate profit.'
Singapore handed out digital banking permits in 2020, followed by the Philippines and Malaysia.
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Low-income individuals and small business will also have a greater access to new credit by the new operators of virtual banks, said Roong.
The Chearavanont family, which controls CP Group, is one of Asia's richest clans, according to the Bloomberg billionaires Index report. It has businesses spanning from foods and retail to telecommunication and properties. It forayed into digital payment and financial services through fintech unit Ascend Money, with more than 50 million customers in Thailand and six other South-east Asian countries.
Gulf Development, controlled by billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi, was created earlier this year by combining his empire – ranging from power to seaports, tollways and telecommunication – under one roof with the goal to accelerate his expansion in digital infrastructure such as data centres. Sarath is Thailand's second-richest person with a net worth of USUS$11 billion.
Joining Sarath's group in the bid are Krung Thai Bank and PTT Oil and Retail Business, according to the central bank's statement. BLOOMBERG
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