TMB to focus on active credit cardholders

Kanchana Rojvatunyu, executive vice president, said the bank should have no more than five types of credit cards to control spending activity. As well, having several types of credit card increases costs for the bank.

TMB has only been in the credit-card business for a few years, she said, and has striven to be different from its competitors by offering |outstanding privileges to its cardholders.

"We have changed the credit-card concept. Having various types of credit cards might not help boost spending as much as giving maximum value to customers.

"We tested the market and offered the So Chill Credit Card, waiving fees for cardholders who withdraw cash with it. Moreover, cardholders get a lower interest rate," she said.

TMB found that 60 per cent of cardholders prefer making minimum payments on their balance, while the rest pay the whole amount. Holders of So Chill cards can enjoy an interest rate of 17 per cent, compared with the market rate of 20 per cent, if they make their payments on schedule.

So Chill has become the most popular TMB credit card and helps increase monthly spending.

Of the 200,000 TMB credit cards in circulation, about 50 per cent are actively used, up from 40 per cent last year thanks to the So Chill Card.

"We should focus on driving spending rather than the number of credit cards. If TMB credit-card holders have no active spending for 11 months, we will terminate their cards," Kanchana said.

The number of TMB credit cards next year is expected to increase slightly to 240,000, she said.

Meanwhile, she said growth of TMB home loans this year would be lower than the target of 10 per cent because of the first-home scheme of the last government and expectation that the project will be continued in some form.

In the first eight months, TMB witnessed mortgage growth of only 2-3 per cent, and forecasts growth for the full year of 5 per cent.

Outstanding home loans at TMB are expected to reach Bt55 billion, up from Bt50 billion last year.