KASIKORN BUSINESS-TECHNOLOGY GROUP (KBTG), a leading financial technology company, has announced its five-year goal, aiming to be at the forefront of banking services in the AEC region. The company has achieved a remarkable performance after launching a series of technological initiatives. Guided by the ?One KBTG? concept of its organizational culture, KBTG has established development hubs in Thailand and two other countries, Vietnam and China, all working together as one in order to achieve the ?Think Thailand Think KBTG? goal.
Mr. Ruangroj Poonpol, KBTG Chairman, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about great societal change as we quickly embrace the 'New Normal? habits. KBTG has conducted an essential transformation under the ?One KBTG? concept with a three-pronged approach, namely Cultural Transformation, Agile Transformation and Transformation Community, in an effort to drive KBTG towards the status of a solid tech company, being a key element for the nation?s development to withstand the unprecedented crisis.
Amid changing consumer behavior, people have become increasingly familiar with digital technology. As evidenced, e-commerce purchase transactions have almost tripled, and the average age of most mobile banking users is around 40-50 years old, compared to the previous 25-39 years old. The number of K PLUS users has now reached 14 million, and transactions via K PLUS are expected to exceed 20,000 million transactions within this year ? a record high. K PLUS has also fostered partnerships with various organizations in order to become more integral to all industries, in terms of financial services.
Regarding the KhunThong application, it has been downloaded by 500,000 customers so far, while the MAKE by KBank application has attracted 20,000 customers, and the Eatable application has garnered 10,000 customers. KBTG?s contactless technology is being used by 20 business partners. Recently, KBTG forged a cooperation with the Stock Exchange of Thailand to develop an end-to-end platform for digital assets in order to facilitate a new form of capital market in Thailand. Once completed, this platform will help broaden fundraising and investment channels for numerous digital assets.
In an attempt to strengthen the organization, KBTG?s operational strategies are based on three pillars: 1) Ensuring business continuity of our customers, and promoting savings, investment and insurance purchases; 2) Promoting a healthy work-life balance and meeting the lifestyle needs of customers, especially those wishing to use their savings for investment during retirement; and, 3) Transforming a traditional banking business into a technology company, which offers innovations for everyone regardless of where they are or what type of transaction they want to conduct.
Meanwhile, KBTG has established development hubs in three countries, namely Thailand, Vietnam and China, with the aim of developing technologies that are in alignment with future digital banking services of KBank and its partners.
Presently, KBank has successfully delivered the QR KBank service in Lao PDR and has been able to expand more of its operations from the Laotian capital of Vientiane to Savannakhet. There are currently around 70,000 customers who have subscribed to the service, with the figure expected to reach 200,000 by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, our Myanmar operations have partnered with Ayeyarwaddy Farmers Development Bank or A Bank, a commercial bank that KBank has already invested in. KBank plans to launch its K+ application, adapted specifically for use in Myanmar, under the name A+. KBank is confident that the application will be as well-received as K+ in Thailand, with the latter presently ranked No.1 as the best financial application.
Meanwhile, KBTG has unveiled K-TECH at Shenzhen, China, with registered capital of CNY 300 million. K-TECH aims to hire around 300 employees to achieve its target of developing financial technology for KASIKORNBANK (CHINA) CO., LTD., other overseas branches as well as its partners. KASIKORNBANK (CHINA) CO., LTD. wants to expand its market reach to retail customers in personal loan, a large market with untapped potential in the area of digital lending.