According to an insider, five companies and joint ventures have applied to establish a virtual bank in Thailand after the Bank of Thailand (BOT) opened applications in March.
After applications close on 19 September, the BOT will select three qualified operators to run the country’s first virtual banks.
The BOT plans to introduce virtual banks – a new type of commercial bank – for the first time by June next year. According to BOT, the number is suitable to ensure the domestic financial market’s stability and to protect depositors from risks.
The first contestant is SCB X, a financial arm of Siam Commercial Bank, joined with foreign virtual bank operators China’s WeBank and South Korea’s KakaoBank.
A joint venture of energy conglomerate Gulf Energy Development (GULF), telecom giant Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Krungthai Bank Plc (KTB) also want to join the race.
Thailand’s largest private company Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group plans to utilize the client base from its True Money platform, and is backed by China’s biggest financial investment company Ant Group.
BTS Group Holdings has also recently made an announcement to apply for the license, aiming to appoint its subsidiary VGI as the virtual bank operator. BTS may use the financial prowess of its partner Bangkok Bank to help run this new business.
The last contestant is believed to be e-commerce giant Shopee from Singapore. However, the company has not made an official announcement yet.
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