Bangkok--Apr 20--Krung Thai Bank
First Government Credit Card in Thailand and Southeast Asia
Krung Thai Bank (KTB), in conjunction with Krungthai Card Public Company Limited (KTC) and Visa International, today announced the launch of the KTC-Government Services Card, a flexible payment solution that will enable government agencies to manage their travel and accommodation expenses in a more efficient, cost-effective and transparent way. This is the first Government Credit Card introduced in Thailand and Southeast Asia. KTC-Government Services Cards has been recently taken up by the Department of Trade Negotiations, Ministry of Commerce, with other agencies indicating strong interest and consideration.
The KTC-Government Services Card allows government agencies to efficiently track travel expenses, audit vendor charges and pre-set employee spending limits. Detailed reports provide transaction level information used for negotiating vendor discounts and monitoring adherence to employee travel practices.
Under the partnership, Krung Thai Bank will be responsible for introducing the product to its customers in the field of governmental agencies, while KTC will take charge of issuing and managing the KTC-Government Services Card as well as developing usage campaigns and other cardholder privilege programs. Visa is the worldwide leader in providing payment and information management solutions for governments, and has extensive experience in rolling out government card programs in other countries. In implementing the KTC-Government Services Card, Visa shares best practices, product development and training expertise with issuers and government customers, as well as provide user-agencies with information management services and tools for expense management.
Mr. Sahas Treetipbut, Krung Thai Bank’s Senior Executive Vice President, Product Management & Special Projects Group said, “The KTC-Government Services Card will help us to offer a wide range of financial solutions to our governmental clients which travel on a regular basis. The card offers the security of not having the need to carry a huge amount of cash when traveling and helps simplify payment processes by eliminating unnecessary paper work. We expect to additionally offer this service to some of our current 200 government agencies in the near future.”
Ms. Ratana Cholprypimolrat, KTC’s Executive Vice President, Revolving Loans Business said, “The launch of the KTC-Government Services Card aims to strengthen our position as a leader in Thailand’s credit card market. In addition to consumers and corporate customers, government agencies are considered as an emerging new customer segment with high potential for growth. With our new KTC-Government Services Card, we can provide government agencies with a convenient payment solution to facilitate their payment process. This new service will be customized to meet the needs of individual government agencies in terms of the amount of credit line and number of people who will carry the card.”
Mr. Michael Cannon, General Manager Commercial Solutions for Visa Asia Pacific said, ”Visa’s long-term goal is to provide modern, efficient and transparent electronic payments to replace the use of cash, not only for consumers or corporate customers but also for government agencies. In the last 15 years, Visa and its member financial institutions have successfully implemented over 2,000 government payment programs for government departments and agencies in 22 countries throughout the world, generating substantial savings and increased efficiency for many countries. For a rapidly developing and progressive economy like Thailand, efficient government payment systems are vital for economic modernization and growth. We are delighted to partner with KTC and Krung Thai Bank to take the lead in Thailand and Southeast Asia in offering the Visa Government Services Card program that will enable user agencies to streamline costs and operate more efficiently.”
According to Mr. Cannon, Visa first put its vast payments experience to work in the public sector by developing a card program for the US federal government in 1988. In recent years, proven cost savings and efficiencies combined with best practices assembled from various successful electronic payment programs have produced significant interest among governments around the world. Visa Government Card programs have since been piloted or launched in many countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Taiwan, UK.
According to Ms.Ratana , KTC has developed standard Corporate Cards features and customized the services to meet government‘s policy in using the card. The key features include Key Management Information Report, Industry Spending Analysis, Consolidated Monthly Spending Report, Card Members List. The cards also provide group travel insurance, and card holders are entitled to 24/7 Visa Global Customer Assistance Services. KTC is now working on providing other ‘Make Sense’ benefits such as promotion discounts in various spending categories to KTC-Government Services Card holders in the near future.
Krungthai Card Public Company Limited or “KTC” is the leader in the credit card and consumer loans industry with services and administration quality and efficiency on the international level. Operating since December 1996, KTC aims to be transparent, focused and truly relevant to the consumers’ requirements. Presently, KTC has approximately 760 employees and over 1 million cardholders who can enjoy services and convenience from over 11,000 establishments across the country including over 610 branches and 1,400 ATM’s of Krung Thai Banks.
Additionally, KTC opened 16 KTC Boutique Branches or comprehensive financial service centers in Bangkok to accommodate the expansion of business and services covering financial transactions and other services such as personal loans, self-employed loans, electronic payment system, monthly service fee payments and the partnership with leading business organizations to bring added privileges and benefits to KTC cardholders.
Visa International
Visa is the world's leading payment brand generating more than US$3 trillion in annual card sales volume. Visa has unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries. The Visa organization plays a pivotal role in developing innovative payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa is a leader in Internet based payments and is pioneering the creation of u-commerce, or universal commerce, the ability to conduct commerce anywhere, anytime, and anyway. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
Visa Asia Pacific
In Asia Pacific, Visa has a greater market share than all other payment card brands combined with 62 percent of all card purchases at the point of sale being made using Visa cards. There are currently 238 million Visa-branded cards in the region. In 2004, US$475 billion was spent at point of sale or withdrawn from ATMs in Asia Pacific using Visa cards. Visa Asia Pacific’s Internet address is www.visa-asia.com.
For more information please contact:
Krungthai Bank Public Company Limited
Public Relations Department
Tel. 02-208-4174-6
Fax. 02-256-8752
Krungthai Card Public Company Limited
Public and Corporate Affairs Department
Kandtharat Chermchitphong
Tel. 02-665-5057
[email protected]
Suchada Weerasakulrak
Tel. 02-656-5732
[email protected]
Atiga Dechawatanapisal
Tel. 02-665-5048
[email protected]
Fax. 02-665-5046
Bangkok Public Relations Ltd.
Ployping Siripakdee or Ananya Sopittakamol
Tel: 02-664- 9500 ext. 109 / 110
Fax: 02-664 -9515 End.