Krungthai Bank applies to set up a virtual bank

State-owned Krungthai Bank (KTB), one of Thailand’s largest commercial banks, announced on Tuesday that its group has submitted an application to the Bank of Thailand for a licence to establish a virtual bank in Thailand.

Payong Srivanich, KTB’s chief executive, said that the bank has partnered with telecom giant Advanced Info Service (AIS) and PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR), a subsidiary of national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc, to compete for one of the three virtual bank licences to be issued by the central bank.

He said the KTB Consortium has both the expertise and necessary strengths to operate a virtual bank in line with the government’s policy of providing financial services to underserved and unserved groups.

“Using their close business partnerships and structural strengths in respective fields, the three parties would help contribute to the ecosystem of a virtual bank in terms of technology and in going beyond banking services,” Payong said.

The CEO said he believed that the emergence of virtual banks in Thailand would prompt fiercer competition in the financial service industry due to more players and the utilisation of new technology and ecosystems.

“There are both successful and unsuccessful virtual banks in the world, which is why we will tread carefully,” he said. “Thailand relies heavily on the informal economy, which we intend to integrate with the new ecosystem, targeting underserved and unserved groups with whom the old system has failed to connect.”

The application deadline for virtual bank licence is tomorrow (September 19). Only three licences will be granted.

After obtaining approval from the finance minister, the successful applicants are required to make necessary preparations, such as information technology systems and risk management tools, so that their virtual banks can start operating by June 2026.

Other financial groups who have announced their intention to apply for the virtual bank licences include SCB X, a financial arm of Siam Commercial Bank; Bangkok Bank, which is partnering with BTS Group Holding’s subsidiary VGI, and Ascend Money Group, a digital wallet provider under TrueMoney, part of the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group.

The Bank of Thailand is scheduled to announce its decision in June of next year.