Krungthai Bank
State-owned Krungthai Bank, Thailand’s third-largest bank by assets, has long been regarded as rather old and crusty, and was all too often eclipsed by nimbler players who set the pace in the fast-changing digital banking landscape.
Not anymore. Krungthai’s president, Payong Srivanich, has fought back in style. In October 2020, the bank took a big step forward with the launch of Infinitas by Krungthai, a digital financial product and development company which fast-tracks innovative business models and shared service platforms as a way of generating revenues.
The Bangkok lender is also implementing robotic process automation and artificial intelligence to cut costs and increase efficiency.
On the mobile banking front, Krungthai has made progress. Its ‘KrungThai Next’ mobile banking application has more than 9 million users and offers a comprehensive range of features, from payment of electricity bills to currency exchange services. Granted, this figure is considerably lower than the 15.5 million users of Kasikornbank’s K Plus mobile banking app, but achieving a chunky number like this in a relatively short time is no mean feat.
But