Krungsri uses credit cards to cash in on Japan fever

Krungsri Consumer, a consumer-finance arm of Bank of Ayudhya – now 77-per-cent owned by The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) – recently joined hands with Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos (MUN), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, to launch the marketing campaign. Krungsri credit-card holders are eligible to receive special offers or discounts similar to BTMU card-holders when spending at 11 well-known stores in Japan.

Both BTMU and MUN are subsidiaries of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Thakorn Piyapan, the managing director of Krungsri Consumer, said that according to the data of the Japan National Tourism Organisation, about 657,000 Thais travelled to Japan last year. This year, Thai tourists travelling to Japan were expected to reach 700,000.

He said that a company survey of Thai customers’ buying behaviour found that most Thai tourists travelled to Japan during March-May every year. The top three spending via credit cards of Thai people are on services and products at department stores, fashion products, and accommodation respectively. 

Thakorn said the marketing campaign for Krungsri cardholders in Japan, therefore, will be valid from March 1 to May 31. Cardholders would be given a 5-per-cent discount plus gifts, depending on each store taking part in the programme. 

He said there was great feedback from the campaign after being launched for only one month. Krungsri cardholders had spent on 394 items at department stores and restaurants, representing a 164-per-cent increase in spending via credit cards year on year.

In addition, Thakorn said Krungsri Consumer also enjoyed dramatic growth in spending via credit cards after it launched a campaign in collaboration with Matsuya in Ginza area and Odakyu in Shinjuku area last November. That spurred spending growth via credit cards by 349 per cent in the period November 22 to January 31, compared to the same period a year earlier. 

 

High spending in Japan

Apart from Matsuya and Odakyu, the stores and restaurants participating in the programme are Tokyu in Shibuya and Supporo, Kiharie ShinQS, Daimaru Matsuzakaya, Happiness and Day Shopping Center, Aqua City Odaiba, Tower Records, JoJo en Restaurant, and Sushi Kyotatsu Restaurant. 

Thakorn said Krungsri’s international spending recorded an average of Bt1.3 billion a month, of which Bt700 million to Bt800 million were from Japan. 

The international spending was an average of Bt5,000 per time, but spending in Japan was Bt6,000 on average. 

He said that in the next phase, more stores and restaurants outside the Tokyo area would participate in the programme. Moreover, by the end of this year, Krungsri would launch a co-brand credit card – Krungsri JBC – to serve customers who are extremely fond of Japan as a niche market segment.

“The marketing promotion next time will be more exciting…it might see a marketing campaign in the United States,” said Thakorn.

He said credit-card expansion this year would be brighter than personal loans, thanks to possible higher domestic consumption after an increase in the salaries of civil servants and a rise in tourism. 

Even though economic growth was only 2.5 per cent, prospects for credit-card expansion still look good, he said, adding it would be three to five times higher than the economic growth.