Kasikornbank expands money transfers service
Kasikornbank plans to extend its cross-border money transfer service to Myanmar and Laotian migrant workers after targeting Cambodian workers.
It yesterday partnered with Wing Cambodia Limited Specialised Bank, the mobile payment service provider in Cambodia.
KBank is now dealing with mobile payment service providers in Myanmar and Laos to facilitate two-way money transfers via smartphones of their workers in Thailand.
The bank is developing simple features for neighbouring customers working in in this country, Pakorn Partanapat, senior executive vice president, said yesterday.
Money transfers to Myanmar people and Laotians are expected to start this year, while the service to Cambodians in Thailand will kick off in May.
KBank’s service aims to reduce the barrier of 500,000 Cambodia workers who use informal agents to transfer about Bt20 billion per year back to their families.
Bt200 per transaction
The service will charge Bt200 per transaction compared to the cost of Bt300-Bt500 for using informal agents.
The problem with informal agents, besides their high fees, is that senders do not know the actual amount after foreign exchange that recipients get.
In Thailand, KBank will promote the service to those 80,000 or so Cambodian workers already holding deposit accounts with the bank before expanding it to Cambodians who are not the bank’s customers.
Only 5-10 per cent of Cambodians use banking services but mobile phone penetration is high. Cambodians prefer using e-wallets on their phone.
KBank plans to offer more payment services besides money transfers to Cambodian workers in Thailand. The service reinforces KBank’s strategy of becoming an Asean bank.
The bank is the market leader in mobile banking in Thailand with four million users, he added.
Anthony Perkins, chief executive officer of Wing Cambodia, said Wing is the top provider of mobile payment, money transfer and payroll management services for retail and business customers in Cambodia.
Last year, its nationwide coverage exceeded 10,000 dealers and at least 550,000 users.
The integration of Asean by the end of this year will open up worker migration and fund transfers are expected to increase, he said.
