Krungsri-JCB credit card set for Feb launch
KRUNGSRI Consumer, the credit-card and personal-loan arm of Krungsri Group (Bank of Ayudhya), will officially launch the Krungsri-JCB credit card in February.
Krungsri is the third financial partner of JCB International (Thailand), following AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand) and Krungthai Card (KTC).
Thakorn Piyapan, managing director of Krungsri Consumer, said the company aimed to issue 70,000-80,000 new Krungsri-JCB credit cards in 2016, targeting white-collar workers with monthly incomes of Bt30,000-Bt50,000 and consumers who enjoy Japanese foods and travelling to Japan.
Spending with Krungsri JCB credit cards is expected to similar to other Krungsri cards at Bt23,000 a month, but holders of this card holders will get top-up promotions offered by JCB. The Japan-based company wants to increase its market share, so offers promotions to lure new customers.
Having a new partner will help Krungsri Credit Card maintain double-digit growth in spending next year, especially on dining, in which it is the market leader, Thakorn said.
He said the company projected spending growth of 12 per cent in 2016 compared with 10 per cent this year. Its total 2015 credit-card spending is expected to reach Bt270 billion.
By number of credit cards, Krungsri Consumer is the leader with 3.8 million, but in terms of spending, it ranks second.
In the personal-loan business, the firm expects 2016 to be the third consecutive year of flat growth, because it wants to control non-performing loans from the previous lending before starting to grow again in 2017, he said.
The rate of non-performing personal loans is 3.6 per cent, compared with 1.6 per cent for credit cards. Thakorn believes new personal loan in 2017 will be of higher quality than the in past after adjusting the credit-scoring process.
Personal-loan business will continue to provide growth for Krungsri Consumer in the long term because under the policy of Krungsri Group, consumer-finance operations – comprising personal loans, auto and motorcycle instalment lending, the First Choice personal-loan card, and microfinance – will be expanded into the CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam).
Two years ago, Krungsri Consumer and Krungsri Auto formed a joint-venture company in Laos called Krungsri Leasing Services.
In Laos, outstanding loans are Bt400 million, of which 10 per cent are First Choice and 90 per cent auto loans.
