SCB invests in new tech, training staff 

“Customer behaviour has changed, so we need to customise our services to cater to their different demands. 
“We also have to develop our services and our staff to cope with the changes in our customers’ requirements,” chief executive officer Arthid Nanthawithaya said recently. SCB will spend Bt40 billion from this year to 2021 to develop its technology and set up an academy to train its 25,000 staff to support the new concept.
Customers do not need only to make a deposit or apply for loan when they go to the bank. They need more financial services to match their lifestyles, such as advice on investment or other financial instruments.
Progress in technology has driven the bank to develop its system with such functions as PromptPay, e-payments and e-wallets.
Many customers now have their activities pass through the mobile system, so the bank has to develop its services on all application platforms. 
“In three to five years from now our customers will be able to do all their business via the mobile phone and Internet after the move to the digital era,” Arthid said. 
The bank has also started to update its branch concept to serve the different demands in different locations. Some locations will be designed to serve retail customers, some to serve corporate customers and some to be service points in line with the digital banking concept.
The bank is also separating its sales and service teams early this year. 
This is the way to manage its customers’ demands because when they visit a branch they want to get the services they need rather than offerings of financial products from counter staff. 
Sales will have the responsibility to find customers who need other financial products such as insurance and investment products like long-term equity funds (LTFs) and retirement mutual funds (RMFs).
“We did not reduce the number of branches but we redesigned our branches to be different sizes depending on the customers at the location.
“Because we have to offer customised services to our cus?tomers, our staff in our branches have to get training to deal with the different customer types. 
“Our branches may be expanded but their concept will be changed. Maybe there will be a service point where customers can do everything by themselves,” Arthid said. 
According to the business trend, the bank’s income ratio has continued to stay at 65 per cent from interest income and 35 per cent from fee income, but its fee-income details will change. 
Most fee income now comes from customers using its payment or transfer services, but in three to five years, fee income might come from arrangements with its strategic partners to provide mobile banking, or other fee services that will follow the emergence of new businesses in the future.
This year the bank’s corporate banking will focus on three segments – infrastructure, food and beverages, and travel.
“We target our corporate-loan growth at up to 6 per cent or maybe to achieve Bt100 billion in new corporate loans this year,” Arthid said.
The bank’s corporate-loan policy will focus on provid?ing financing to its customers and their supply chains, when the bank sees the opportunity to grow together with its customers.