SCB Group to set up SCBX as "Mothership" to increase flexibility and competitiveness as it aims to become a regional financial technology group

The SCB Group has announced its corporate vision for tackling the rapidly evolving global context by establishing SCBX as a mothership company to accelerate proactive expansion into financial business to the fullest extent. The move will ready the Group for entry into the emerging competitive arena and propel the firm as a regional financial technology conglomerate by 2025, with the goal of building a 200 million strong customer-base with a mission of connecting to the ecosystem both at home and abroad. SCBX will remain under the supervision of the Bank of Thailand.

In announcing the latest move, Siam Commercial Bank CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee Arthid Nanthawithaya said, "In 2025, the arrival of decentralized finance technology, the expansion and penetration of global platforms into financial business, post-Covid 19 consumer behavior, and dramatic changes to regulations will reshape business models, forcing banks into playing roles as intermediaries and making traditional banking fees less and less important. Such conventional roles will no longer satisfy the emerging needs and expectations of consumers. Consumer reliance on banks will wane, which will unavoidably have a negative impact on the future value proposition for traditional banking investors."

"This disruption trend began six years ago and will become very apparent over the next three years, so SCB has rekindled its ambition and will continue to work hard to maximize its potential. Now is the most important time to ask the difficult questions of the future, to discover how SCB will transform itself in three years to create new value for its shareholders and consumers and grow further in the new world. SCB must no longer limit itself to traditional banking business, but rather take advantage of its financial strength to accelerate its aggressive expansion into other types of financial businesses that the market demands, build technological capabilities, and manage a large technology platform to keep pace with global players. It is crucial to quickly enter this new arena of competition in order to survive in the next 3-5 years," added Arthid.

The strategy to strengthen the bank along with creating new business for the future will focus on embracing technology in conjunction with simplifying processes to meet the changing needs of customers as much as possible through every channel. The Bank's focus is on creating maximum customer satisfaction.

SCB will therefore no longer be a bank in the original sense of the word, instead transforming into a financial technology group with a stronger banking business as part of the group. The group will expand into high-growth personal finance businesses where the Bank has yet to fill the gap. For each business, SCB will also partner with leading local and regional players in businesses that will be launched in the near future.

Apart from expanding into the personal finance business, SCB will need to leverage the group's capabilities in building and managing large technology platforms, following its pilot Robinhood food delivery platform. The move aims to create competitiveness on par with global platforms and to upskill technology personnel, starting with the establishment of "SCB Tech X" and "Data X" with global partners to create in-house technology-based capabilities and platform scalability within a short time span.

In addition, SCB will expand into the digital asset business on a global scale via SCB 10X and SCB Securities (SCBS) to tackle the challenges of the financial world of the future by entering into venture capital arrangements and partnerships with global funds and developing digital asset businesses using new business models to create added value for the group in the long run.

"By 2025, SCB hopes to be able to create significant corporate value from new businesses beyond the fundamental profit and stability of its core banking business. This includes building a customer base reaching 200 million, expanding new businesses in foreign countries, and owning a large technology platform with a large number of users. After these three years, SCB will no longer be a bank. Instead, it will be a conglomerate with various financial businesses and technology platforms capable of meeting new consumer demands and able to compete with global competitors to create new value for shareholders, replacing banking businesses that may be impacted by change in a timely manner," concluded Arthid.