BAY wins bid for HSBC cards

BAY is one of two local banks that entered the bidding after HSBC Holdings, the London-based bank giant, announced it was considering shedding non-core consumer operations, including credit cards and personal loans.
A banking-industry source said BAY had entered a confidentiality agreement with HSBC (Thailand) on the acquisition. HSBC (Thailand) has 500,000 credit cards in Thailand. They and the personal-lending portfolio have combined outstanding loans of Bt40 billion.
Bank of Ayudhya is awaiting the Bank of Thailand’s approval of the deal, after which BAY will integrate HSBC’s credit cards and personal loans into its own portfolio, a process expected to be completed early next year, a source said.
HSBC (Thailand) will focus on wealthy and wholesale customers, following the policy of its parent company.
BAY chief executive officer Mark Arnold earlier said the bank planned to acquire more financial-services businesses, probably related to the small and medium-sized enterprise and retail sectors, to strengthen its portfolio and boost the bank’s assets.
In the past two years, it has acquired businesses from GE Money and American International Group to strengthen its roles in asset management, credit cards and auto loans.
BAY is No 1 in the industry for credit-card business with 4 million cards issued, and No 2 in both personal and auto loans.
Philip Tan, the bank’s head of consumer finance, declined to comment on the deal, but acknowledged that the bank had a policy of strengthening its business through both organic and inorganic growth.
BAY will not lose market share in the credit-card industry to rivals, and the bank still looks for opportunities to acquire businesses to ensure its leadership, he said.
“If any firms announce they are selling businesses, we are ready to participate in terms of bidding and other options,” he said.