DTAC plans mobile financial and insurance services

A company source said DTAC had conducted a feasibility study on providing these two services, which are expected to require an investment of Bt1 billion to develop. The financial service will range from money deposits and transfers to lending.
The source declined to provide more details, but said the move was in line with the strategy of DTAC’s strategic partner Telenor Asia that its business operations in Asia should develop value-added services for cellular business.
DTAC already has an e-money licence from the Bank of Thailand, for its subsidiary PaysBuy to provide online payment service, mainly for e-commerce.
The source said that for the insurance service, DTAC was studying whether it would have to apply for any licences or should join with partners in the insurance business.
When asked to confirm whether DTAC would launch these new services, chief executive officer Jon Eddy Abdullah said it was looking at opportunities to provide insurance services. However, it wants to make sure the products, cost, and product distribution would all work together well and the service would be easy for customers to use. If a licence to conduct this business is required, DTAC would seek one, he added.
However, he declined to specify when DTAC would launch the insurance service.
In January, Telenor Group entered a joint venture with MicroEnsure, a leading provider of insurance products to more than 4 million people in Africa and Asia, to form MicroEnsure Asia, according to its press release.
MicroEnsure Asia has initially focused on introducing a range of insurance products to Telenor’s business units in Asia as well as seeking to work with other mobile-network operators and distribution partners in Asia and Eastern Europe.