, Thailand

How can Thai banks cushion the cost impact from waived digital fees?

Fee waivers could cost the banking system as much as $288.45m in foregone revenue.

The popularity of mobile banking is poised to lessen the profit-loss margin of Thai banks as major lenders moved to waive fees for transfers and bill payments in a bid to compete against non-traditional and fintech players.

Also read: Thai banks to waive digital transaction fees amidst heated e-wallet competition

“Fee waivers will have some effect on banks’ profit, but we expected mobile and Internet banking will lower the overall cost,” said Thai Bankers’ Association chairman Predee Daochai.

This comes as major commercial lenders Siam Commercial bank, Kasikornbank, Bangkok Bank, Kiatnakin and Krung Thai Bank decided to waive transactions done via phone or computer which could cost the local banking system as much as $288.45m (TB9b) in foregone revenue. The move comes as consumers are increasingly turning to a slew of digital alternatives including government-backed PromptPay, TrueMoney offered by telco firm True Corporation Pcl, and startup Omise for their money transfer needs.

However, Daochai remains confident that mobile banking is set to offset the impact. According to data from the Bank of Thailand, the number of transactions via mobile platforms jumped to almost $32.05m (TB1b) in 2017 which far exceeds credit card and cheque usage.

Fee income can also help offsetting the negative impact on the profitability of Thai banks, he added.

Join Asian Banking & Finance community
Since you're here...

...there are many ways you can work with us to advertise your company and connect to your customers. Our team can help you dight and create an advertising campaign, in print and digital, on this website and in print magazine.

We can also organize a real life or digital event for you and find thought leader speakers as well as industry leaders, who could be your potential partners, to join the event. We also run some awards programmes which give you an opportunity to be recognized for your achievements during the year and you can join this as a participant or a sponsor.

Let us help you drive your business forward with a good partnership!

Top News

What is Lorem Ipsum?
What is Lorem Ipsum? Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Exclusives

Sed molestie interdum dui sit amet egestas
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout.
CIMB Niaga leads the way in captivating Indonesia’s youth
The bank’s digital solutions are winning over younger generations with 3.2M mobile users and 96% digital transaction rate in 2023.