Thai virtual bank licence deadline passes with 5 initial applicants
The Bank of Thailand has closed applications for three virtual bank licences, with the final number of contenders remaining at five
The deadline for submitting applications for the three virtual bank licenses has passed, with no additional contenders beyond the initial five announced in August.
Somchai Lertlarpwasin, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT), said the application period closed on Thursday (September 19), with the total number of applicants remaining unchanged at five.
In August, the BOT announced that five groups had applied for the three virtual bank licences after applications opened in March. They are:
- SCB X, a financial arm of Siam Commercial Bank, in collaboration with foreign virtual bank operators WeBank (China) and KakaoBank (South Korea).
- A joint venture involving Gulf Energy Development (GULF), telecom giant Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Krungthai Bank Plc (KTB).
- Ascend Money, under Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, partnered with Ant Group, a leading FinTech firm of Alibaba Group (China).
- A joint venture of Singapore-based Sea Group (operator of Shopee) with Thai partners Bangkok Bank, Thailand Post, Sahapat Group, and VGI (a BTS Group Holdings subsidiary).
- Lightnet led by Chatchawan Chearavanont in collaboration with WeLab, a leading virtual bank operator in Asia-Pacific.
Somchai said the BOT will review the applicants’ qualifications and announce selected operators by mid-2025. Successful applicants will be expected to launch their virtual banks within a year, following approval by the finance minister.
