Thais warm to robo-banking

But in Thailand, 90 per cent of those surveyed said they would consider making use of robo-banking.
The research found that the countries with the biggest appetite for robo-advice are in emerging economies. In Indonesia, 92 per cent of respondents were ready to take the plunge and levels were also high in Brazil (86 per cent) and Chile (84 per cent). Along with Thailand, these are markets where it is already common to use a smartphone or other digital device as the primary vehicle for financial services interactions. 
Even in the countries with the lowest demand – Canada (56 per cent), Germany (59 per cent) and Australia (61 per cent) – more than half of consumers surveyed said they are willing to use robo-advice.
 This isn’t too surprising: Thais have been using digital services to transfer money and check their cash balances for some time. But now, Thai financial services customers are willing to use robo-advice for even more services, such as determining which bank account to open (87 per cent), insurance coverage to purchase (88 per cent), investments to make (94 per cent), and how |to plan for retirement (90 per cent). 
 The reasons are straightforward and should nudge Thai financial services companies to consider offering more robo-advice. Thais most often cited speed and convenience as reasons to embrace computer generated services. In addition, they said they thought “computers/artificial intelligence are more impartial/analytical than humans” and “computers/artificial intelligence will give me better advice as they can draw on more sources of information”.
Customer demand for digitial services is evident within branches. Most Thais (68 per cent) said they want to use devices to access their online banking while in the branch as well as advanced ATM machines that allow them to pay-in cheques or cash (71 per cent). That said, 68 per cent said they do want to interact with humans when filing a complaint.
This suggests that Thai financial services firms will therefore |need a “phygital” strategy that seamlessly integrates technology, branch networks and staff to provide a service that combines physical and digital capabilities at the customers’ whim.
Beware of the competition
The survey also found that consumers are willing to switch to non-traditional providers for financial services. Nearly half of all customers in Thailand surveyed would switch to Google, Amazon or Facebook for banking services (41 per cent) or wealth management advice (47 per cent), and more than one third would switch for insurance services (34 per cent). Tech giants are not the only ones putting pressure on financial service firms; 39 per cent of the surveyed Thai consumers said would also consider switching to a supermarket or retailer for their banking and insurance services.
This suggests that Thai consumers expect nearly all of their transactions to be on par with the service they receive from the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Alipay. This poses a challenge for banks. They need to create branches that provide an advanced digital experience combined with convenient locations, while also developing an online digital experience that can compete head on with the tech giants. The vast majority of today’s consumers view their bank relationships as entirely transactional; in order to gain customer loyalty, banks have to be more assertive in using technology to provide tailored, personalised offerings when, where and how customers want them.