Spending through KTC cards to miss target
But profit goal already reached; digital banking to be focus of marketing drive
Krungthai Card has acknowledged that spending via its credit cards this year will miss the target of Bt120 billion because the economic slowdown has pulled down the purchasing power, said KTC chief executive officer Rathian Srimongkol.
He said spending so far this year had expanded by 6-7 per cent, far from the target of 12-15 per cent. Despite this, however, KTC had already beaten its full-year profit target by last month.
Spending via KTC cards dropped in the first quarter because the firm was busy improving its information technology, so it did not launch any marketing campaigns.
By the time it launched marketing campaigns in the second quarter, the economy had begun to slow and political turmoil had started, so its marketing efforts did little to boost spending by its cardholders, Rathian said.
However, life goes on despite political tension, and so does spending. In the first nine months, KTC enjoyed net profit of Bt1.05 billion, against Bt255 million for the whole of 2012.
Rathian said the company still projected credit-card spending growth of 15 per cent for next year, adding that KTC would increase the frequency of marketing campaigns and focus on digital activities.
The online channel represents 30 per cent of total spending of KTC cardholders.
As ownership of smart phones has been growing by double digits annually, around 16 per cent of smart phone users use mobile banking, meaning that Thailand has entered the digital age. Therefore, KTC will move towards digital as well, he said.
Yesterday, KTC launched two new applications for customers and merchants who prefer making online transactions with smart devices.
KTC will become the latest financial house to develop mobile point-of-sale (MPOS), a credit-card-swiping device, for use with iOS, in the first quarter of next year.
