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SCB to merge 50 branches this year
Siam Commercial Bank plans to merge at least 50 branches this year, up from 20 last year, to manage operating costs and adjust to the boom in digital banking.
Phanporn Kongyingyong, head of the retail segment, said last week that if digital transactions increase significantly, five years from now, 1,200 branches might be too many.
The bank will be careful in opening branches.
SCB’s digital banking channel is called Easy Net.
Half of the 2.2 million Easy Net users are active.
Easy Net accounts for 30 per cent of transaction through all channels, surpassing its branch network, which was 20 per cent. The rest of the transactions were made via ATMs.
There’s no plan to install more ATMs because 10,000 machines are enough for current transactions and the bank wants to encourage customers to use digital banking, she added.
General insurance growth forecast slashed for 2016
The Thai General Insurance Association has cut its growth forecast for premiums from 3.5 per cent to 2.2 per cent this year in light of slower economic expansion.
The association had expected gross domestic product growth of 3.5 per cent.
Based on the new target, general insurance premiums will reach Bt213.94 billion
New car sales are slower than expected and pricing in industrial all risk insurance is also fierce, president Anon Vangvasu said last week.
The association is worrying about the loss ratio for motor insurance.
If any insurers face a loss ratio of over 65 per cent, while car repair costs increase by 7-8 per cent a year, they might not survive in the industry.
Over 18,700 companies blacklisted
Some 18,756 companies have been blacklisted by the Business Development Department so far this year for intentionally registering names similar to other famous firms, having an unclear location and missing the deadline for submitting .
Pongpun Gearaviriyapun, director-general of the department, said last week that those firms, out of the 634,227 active firms in the country, were found to have many suspicious behaviours and the department |would like to protect their customers.
The behaviour of intentionally registering a company name similar to a famous firm’s could lead to cheating.
Other practices are having unclear office addresses, missing a period for submitting and registering too much initial capital.
Some firms have been sued or have had their business licence withdrawn, such as UFun Store.
Siam Commercial Bank plans to merge at least 50 branches this year, up from 20 last year, to manage operating costs and adjust to the boom in digital banking.
Phanporn Kongyingyong, head of the retail segment, said last week that if digital transactions increase significantly, five years from now, 1,200 branches might be too many.
The bank will be careful in opening branches.
SCB’s digital banking channel is called Easy Net.
Half of the 2.2 million Easy Net users are active.
Easy Net accounts for 30 per cent of transaction through all channels, surpassing its branch network, which was 20 per cent. The rest of the transactions were made via ATMs.
There’s no plan to install more ATMs because 10,000 machines are enough for current transactions and the bank wants to encourage customers to use digital banking, she added.
