TMB offers incentives to attract mortgage clients

TMB Bank yesterday announced it was waiving appraisal fees, fees for mortgage services and fire-insurance premiums for customers who apply for three products. They are mortgage reducing term assurance (MRTA), automatic account debiting for mortgage payments, and the TMB All Free debit card.

The bank is also promoting interest rates of 3.75 per cent per annum for the first three years and MRR (minimum retail rate) minus 2.275 percentage points for the fourth year throughout the mortgage contract. TMB’s MRR at present is 8.025 per cent. 

Mingkwan Pattanawong, head of retail marketing at TMB, said customers should base their decisions on the fixed rate for the first three years and not only the low rate for the first year. 

The bank believes the government incentives will spur competition and customers will have more choice when shopping for a housing loan. Therefore, TMB has offered special promotions, focusing on easing some expenses related to mortgages such as premiums for fire insurance.

TMB will run more promotional campaigns and seek marketing partnerships with property developers. It will increase mobile sales to increase brand awareness during the government incentive period.

The incentives began on October 14 and will be in effect until April. They include reduction of housing transfer fees to 0.01 per cent from 2 per cent, and mortgage fees to 0.01 per cent from 1 per cent. Buyers of homes priced lower than Bt3 million will be eligible for a tax deduction of 20 per cent of the total home price.

Mingkwan said the bank’s own promotions would help TMB achieve its new housing loan target of Bt6 billion. In the first 11 months, new housing loans expanded by 70 per cent from the end of last year. 

With the special deals in combination with the government’s incentives, the bank projects its new housing loans in 2016 will grow by 80 per cent from this year, she said.