RBS pushes electronic payment, helps Thai businesses seeking overseas opportunities

In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Hemaka Perera, RBS head of transaction services for Thailand, affirmed that his bank’s goal was to support large corporates and multinationals by getting them the cheapest funding. One of the ways to do that is to introduce electronic platforms, which should help clients – including Thai corporates – gain a competitive edge. RBS constantly develops electronic platforms and introduces new products specially made to be used electronically. Its goal is to have a global electronic system on which its clients can handle their accounts on a similar platform wherever they are in the world, Perera said. 

With the Asean Economic Community coming into full effect next year and more corporates in this region expanding overseas, electronic systems will play a major role in business operations, he said. 

Perera said RBS had cooperated closely with Thai regulators to push for wider use of electronic payment systems. Some Asean countries such as Singapore have done very well in this regard, and the city-state’s electronic system has contributed to increasing competitiveness within its whole economy, he claimed. 

All Thai authorities must work together in building a successful electronic platform, Perera said. RBS could then encourage its customers to utilise the system as long as it is simple to use.

The bank recently signed a collaborative agreement with the Revenue Department to encourage the bank’s clients to pay tax via electronic means instead of by cash, he said. 

According to RBS statistics, 87 per cent of Asean intra-trade transactions are in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where RBS has already set up local offices to help clients establish themselves overseas, and to create a cost advantage by implementing an international electronic platform in all bank accounts.

Perera said he had a positive feeling towards Asean, believing that the regional economy will grow by 5.5-6 per cent annually. Judging from RBS data, he does not see companies pulling their investments out of the region like many say.

Perera said he expected bank consolidation in Asean, including Thailand, due to fierce competition, while foreign banks are interested in acquiring Thai banks, and some already have. He also believes that Thai banking regulators want to see more mergers between small and international banks, in order to provide better products and services to customers and to compete with other large banks. 

He said RBS had witnessed more Thai firms expanding into Asean, Europe and other parts of the world. This presented more opportunities for RBS to serve Thai corporate clients.

While markets expect a rise in the US benchmark interest rate in mid-2015, as the US economy is recovering, Perera cautioned that Thai banks and Thai corporates might see the costs of borrowing climb, as some of them have already borrowed in US dollar terms. 

Perera is confident that RBS’ network covering 38 countries and the way it manages clients will continue to be the two biggest factors differentiating it from its rivals.