App to firm up GH Bank’s shift to digital banking

GH Bank President Chatchai Sirilai said the app would be available for downloading this year and would include options such as loan repayments.
Along with customer convenience, the move will also help the bank deal with the constraints of limited staffing numbers at its branches, Chatchai said.
“This will serve the concept of customers getting service anywhere and anytime,” he said.
“By using the app, customers will not have to wait in a long line every month to make their loan repayments. That will also save them travel time.”
Chatchai said customers who repaid their loans via the app would be able to download the receipt as soon as payment is confirmed. At present a receipt is printed and mailed to each customer, a process that can take time and, sometimes, they get lost along the way.
Customers who have loan repayments deducted from their salary can also receive receipts via the app. 
The move to transform the bank towards digital services provision is in line with the government’s policy to turn Thailand into a so-called Thailand 4.0 economy, Chatchai said. 
Laiwan Pongsangiam, GH Bank senior executive vice president, said each month the bank spent about Bt40 million to print and mail about 800,000 receipts to customers nationwide. Therefore, the app will save money, Laiwan said.
She said the app would result in better business dealings with customers because the bank had a limited budget for opening more branches and hiring more staff. GH Bank has about 200 branches nationwide, with 40 operating in department stores.
Chatchai said that GS Bank would continue its commitment for Thais to have a home by using a combination of business and social solutions as well as financial technology to become even more competitive.
In-app services will include GHB Smart Queue, which will allow customers to book in advance to avoid queuing if they want to do a basic financial transaction such as make a deposit, a withdrawal or a loan repayment at a bank branch. 
“When your queue number is near, the app will send an SMS to your phone. This will help save time for customers,” he said.
The in-app will also comprise GHB Smart Booth, which will allow customers to check financial promotions available at financial events and they can contact bank staff to ask for more details if they are interested in a promotion.
Home-loan seekers can contact bank via the app, Chatchai said, to learn about the required documents and make an appointment with a branch to submit their loan applications. 
“Customers can submit the application via the app and learn if the documents meet the requirements or if the bank wants more documents. 
“They will then know about the application status and learn whether the application gets pre-approval or not,” he said.
Another digital service that the GH Bank is interested in is the Video Teller Machine, Chatchai said. This allows customers to contact a bank through the machine so that they do not have to travel to a branch. The bank can also use only one staff member to serve customers, who can do a transaction and open a new bank account from anywhere and anytime.
Chatchai was speaking to reporters during a trip to Shenzhen, China, and Hong Kong to visit digital giants such as Huawei and GRG Banking in a bid to update the technology for GHB’s transformation to digital banking.