Kasikorn Bank – Retail News CRM

KBank Financial Conglomerate acquires additional investments in Bank Maspion

KASIKORNBANK FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATE has acquired additional investments in PT Bank Maspion Indonesia Tbk (Bank Maspion) in Indonesia through KASIKORN VISION FINANCIAL PTE. LTD. (KVF) and PT. KASIKORN VISION FINANCIAL INDONESIA. Following the capital injection, the post-investment valuation of Bank Maspion stands at 15.441 billion Baht, an increase of 8.0 billion Baht. Therefore, the subsidiaries increased its stake in Bank Maspion to 84.55 percent, from 67.68 percent, reaffirming its position as a controlling shareholder in this Indonesian bank. The move also reinforces KBank’s goal of becoming the largest bank in East Java.

Mr. Pattarapong Kanhasuwan, Chairman of KASIKORN VISION FINANCIAL COMPANY PTE. LTD. (KVF), said, “KASIKORNBANK FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATE initially acquired a stake in Bank Maspion in 2017. In the latest development, the subsidiaries have acquired additional shares in Bank Maspion, increasing its stake to 84.55 percent. The valuation of Bank Maspion after the capital injection amounted to 15.441 billion Baht, increasing 8.0 billion Baht. This strategic move will contribute significantly to the continuous growth of Bank Maspion, strengthening its operations and enhancing its customer service capabilities, while fortifying KBank’s position as the controlling shareholder of Bank Maspion.”
KBank has leveraged its more than 78 years of experience in the banking business, along with its capability and expertise in financial innovations and technologies, to cement Bank Maspion’s strengths in all aspects. Such endeavors are intended to ensure that Bank Maspion becomes a “Right Financial Partner” that can provide services beyond traditional financial products in order to support the growth of customers’ businesses and facilitate Indonesia’s long-term economic growth through the implementation of business strategies that focus on three customer segments, namely corporate, SME and retail.

Corporate customer segment has exhibited bright growth prospects and is a major driver of the Indonesian economy. With that in mind, KBank intends to enhance Bank Maspion’s service provision capability and deepen client relationships in order to be a potential source of financing and offer comprehensive banking services.
For the SME customer segment, KBank has developed and improved products and services to make it easier to audit income, approve loans and lift various restrictions in order to respond to customers’ needs more quickly while also maintaining the security of related transactions. KBank is planning to offer P2P lending soon, as well.
As for the retail customer segment, KBank aims to expand its retail customer base through the design and development of various products and services, including Payroll, QRIS (Indonesian Standard QR Payment), deposit accounts, and personal loans, while introducing marketing campaigns to meet the diverse needs and behaviors of retail customers in their daily lives.

Mr. Pattarapong added that the capital injection is in alignment with the Bank’s strategy of business expansion to become A Regional Bank of Choice within AEC+3. The focus is on enhancing capabilities in financial innovations and technologies to provide services beyond banking solutions in response to current changes. KBank’s competitive advantage of a service network in key strategic areas across the region will strengthen connectivity between Indonesia and the AEC+3 market. The effort is in line with KBank’s goal of becoming the largest bank in East Java by 2027.

November 23, 2023

KBank Thailand expands into international market amid inflation time

The target of creating a better credit environment for SMEs is KBank’s strategy upon entering the Vietnamese market.

December 1, 2022

Kasikorn Bank announced the nine-month period of 2019 net profit of Baht 29,924 Million

Ms. Kattiya Indaravijaya, President of KASIKORNBANK, said Thai economic activity in the third quarter of 2019 continued to see few supports, after growing by 2.30% in the second quarter of 2019. The Thai economy showed signs of strength in the third quarter of 2019, due mostly to the low base effect of the same period last year, especially in the tourism sector. However, exports and private investment – two major economic drivers – continued to slow in line with the sluggish global economy and trade volume amid the protracted US–China trade negotiations and concerns over Brexit risks. For the final quarter of this year, a brighter outlook seems to be in store for the Thai economy, thanks to the government’s stimulus measures.

Operating performance for the nine–month period of 2019, KBank and its subsidiaries reported net profit of Baht 29,924 Million, and reported net profit of Baht 9,951 Million, for the third quarter of 2019.

Operating performance for the nine–month period of 2019 compared with the same period of 2018, KBank and its subsidiaries reported net profit of Baht 29,924 Million, a decrease of Baht 1,502 Million or 4.78% over the same period of 2018. Net interest income increased by Baht 4,051 Million or 5.54% mainly due to interest income from loans to customers and investments. NIM stood at 3.34%. Non–interest income decreased by Baht 2,753 Million or 6.20% mainly due to a decrease in net premiums earned – net and fees waive for money transfers through digital channels, while revenue from sale of securities increased. Moreover, other operating expenses increased by Baht 2,684 Million or 5.49%, resulting in the cost to income ratio that stood at 43.41%. KBank has set aside higher allowance for impairment loss on loans from the preceding quarter, with prudent consideration on factors in line with uncertainties from continued economic slowdown.

Operating performance for the third quarter of 2019 compared with the second quarter of 2019, KBank and its subsidiaries reported net profit of Baht 9,951 Million, a slight increase from the preceding quarter of Baht 22 Million or 0.23% mainly due to an increase in net interest income increased by Baht 326 Million or 1.27%. NIM stood at 3.34%. Moreover, non – interest income increased by Baht 2,139 Million or 15.68% due mostly to revenue from sale of securities increased. In addition, other operating expenses was approximate to the previous quarter. In this quarter, cost to income ratio stood at 42.52%. However, KBank has set aside higher allowance for impairment loss on loans from the preceding quarter, with prudent consideration on factors in line with uncertainties from continued economic slowdown.

As of 30 September 2019, KBank and its subsidiaries’ total assets were Baht 3,240,134 Million, an increase of Baht 85,043 Million or 2.70% over the end of 2018. The majority came from an increase in investments – net and loans. NPL gross to total loans as of 30 September 2019 stood at 3.53% while at the end of 2018 this stood at 3.34%. Coverage ratio as of 30 September 2019 stood at 153.58%, while at the end of 2018 this stood at 160.60%. In addition, as of 30 September 2019, KASIKORNBANK FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATE’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) according to the Basel III Accord was 19.10%, with a Tier–1 Capital ratio of 16.76%.

October 22, 2019

Japan’s NETSTARS joins Singtel’s VIA alliance

Singtel‘s cross-border mobile payments alliance VIA has expanded into Japan through a partnership with Tokyo-bassed mobile payment technology NETSTARS.

The addition of NETSTARS to the alliance will add 100,000 stores to the network’s current 1.6 million merchant partners in Asia.

With the agreement, users of mobile wallets supported by VIA, including Singtel’s Dash and AIS Global Pay, will be able to use their respective wallets at merchants including airports, shopping malls, transportation modes and food and beverage outlets.

Users will be able to pay instantly in their local currency with competitive foreign exchange rates in Japan.

NETSTARS aims to grow its merchant base to 1 million stores throughout Japan by the end of next year

As well as Dash and AIS Global Pay, Thailand’s Kasikornbank and Malaysia’s Boost will soon be adding their mobile wallets to the VIA alliance.

Singtel Group plans to expand the VIA alliance to include other mobile regional associates including Airtel in India, Globe in the Philippines and Telkomsel in Indonesia, as well as more non-telco partners.

March 25, 2019

KBank holds exam for eight graduate scholarships

KBank will hold an examination for eight graduate scholarships for 2019 at both local and international institutes in many fields, including business administration, finance and IT, the bank said in a press release on Thursday.Scholarships in business data analytics are offered for the first time this year to seek a new generation of employees with competencies to help KBank press ahead with the strategies to be Customers’ Life Platform of Choice and a Data-Driven Bank. Applications are open from now until April 9, 2019.

Kattiya Indaravijaya, KBank President, said that because human resources are the nexus of any organizations and national development, KBank is offering eight full scholarships for master programs at both local and international institutions, as follows:

Graduate scholarships at international institutes in countries determined by KBank, namely the US, UK, France, Switzerland, Japan, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Singapore, for 14 fields, including business administration, finance, financial engineering, international business, risk management, mathematics, statistics, data analysis, computer science – artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, human computer interaction or UX UI design biometrics, computer systems and computational linguistics. Graduate scholarships in business data analytics are offered for the first time in 2019 in response to KBank’s operations to use big data in mobilising the business.

For local institutes, KBank offers scholarships for students to study at Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University and Thammasat University in four academic fields, namely Master of Business Administration Program (MBA), Master Program in Financial Engineering (MFE), Master of Science in Finance (MSF) & Master in Finance (MIF) and Master of Science Program in Marketing (MIM).

Qualified applicants for business data analytics study must not be older than 28 years old, while applicants for study in other academic fields must not be older than 30 years old and must be a Thai citizen with a bachelor’s degree in any field and a minimum of 3.0 GPA.

People applying to study abroad must submit their test scores of language proficiency, GMAT or GRE per the criteria together with their applications. Interested persons can fill the application forms at www.kasikornbank.com and find additional information from KBank’s announcement or KBank’s Human Resource Development Department, tel. 02-470 3172 or [email protected] from today until April 9, 2019.

March 13, 2019

KBank-Visa to pilot blockchain based B2B payments

Visa announced Kasikornbank is the first Thai financial institution to join the Visa B2B Connect pilot program. Visa B2B Connect is a new platform that Visa is developing to give financial institutions a simple, fast and secure way to process cross-border business-to-business payments. The pilot is currently in the Bank of Thailand Regulatory Sandbox.

Kasikornbank is the first Thai bank to be included in the pilot designed to simplify the cross-border payments. Globally, Visa has partnered with several other financial institutions on the pilot.

Suripong Tantiyanon, Country Manager, Visa Thailand said, “Visa is proud that we have a representation from a Thai financial institution in the pilot program. Building on the enterprise blockchain technology, Visa B2B Connect is a new transaction platform designed for the exchange of high-value international payments between participating banks on behalf of their corporate clients. Managed by Visa end-to-end, Visa B2B Connect combines Visa’s core capabilities in security, governance and distributed ledger technology.”

Siriporn Wongtriphop, First Senior Vice President, Kasikornbank said, “Kasikornbank is dedicated to delivering new and innovative solutions for our customers. Through our relationship with Visa, we are excited to be participating in the Visa B2B Connect pilot which is the first step of new paradigm in reimagining cross-border payment transactions. As the first mover in Thailand, we believe that KBank will be a leader in the industry which benefits for KBank’s enterprise clients in terms of more secured payment.”

“Visa’s focus is to provide our financial institution partner with access to our products, tools and expertise that will enable their growth and success. With our technological capability and network, we are pleased to partner with Kasikornbank to create a more efficient, transparent way for business-to-business payments to be made across the world,” Mr. Suripong added.

With Visa B2B Connect, Visa aims to significantly improve the way international B2B payments are made by offering improved processing time and visibility into the transaction process – ultimately reducing the investment and resources required by banks and their corporate clients to send and receive business payments around the world.

October 17, 2018

KBank to launch USD100-million sustainability bonds to finance green and social projects

KASIKORNBANK (KBank) is the first Thai and ASEAN bank to issue sustainability bonds totaling USD100 million, where the proceeds will be used to finance green and social projects. Such bond issuance is aimed at supporting the development of Thai and regional capital markets and promoting investments that generate returns in parallel with driving sustainable growth of Thailand and global communities.

Mr. Banthoon Lamsam, Chairman of the Board of KBank, said KBank has adhered to the Sustainable Development concept in relation to the economic, social and environmental aspects as a foundation of its operations, to create maximum benefits for all stakeholders. Recently, KBank issued sustainability bonds totaling USD100 million for foreign investors, which has made KBank the first bank in Thailand and Southeast Asia to offer such bonds. The proceeds of bond issuance will be used to finance projects that will bring about environmental and social benefits in accordance with international standards set up by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF).

Sustainability bonds of KBank are senior, unsecured bonds, with floating interest rate based on LIBOR plus 0.95 percent. Under a five-year term, the maturity will be in 2023. The entire amount was offered to foreign institutional investors via KBank’s Hong Kong Branch. Related parties include BNP Paribas that acts as the Sustainability Bond Framework Structuring Advisor and Sole Lead Manager, and Sustianalytics – an independent global provider of ESG and corporate governance research – that has provided a second party opinion on the sustainability bond framework.

Mr. Banthoon added that the success in the sustainability bond sale reinforces KBank’s core concept of sustainable development. The fact that the bonds were fully subscribed within only one day reflects KBank’s ability to create a balance between the return and the policy of the bond which is up to international standards, thus being widely accepted by institutional investors who have placed their trust in KBank. KBank is strongly confident that the issuance of the sustainability bonds – the first time in Thailand and in ASEAN – will set a new benchmark for domestic and regional capital markets. The initiative will be a prelude for the launch of capital products offering attractive returns to investors while also driving sustainable growth for the nation and the world.

KBank’s business operations are based on being a bank of sustainability under appropriate risk management, good governance and balance in economic, social and environmental dimensions. Given the adherence to the Sustainable Development concept, KBank is the first bank in Thailand and ASEAN that has been granted membership of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) in both their DJSI World Index and DJSI Emerging Markets 2018 for the third consecutive year. In addition, KBank has been selected as a member of the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for three straight years.

At the national level, the Stock Exchange of Thailand has included KBank in the Thailand Sustainability Investment List 2018 (THSI List) and the SET THSI Index, the first-of-its-kind index in Thailand, among other 45 companies. In addition, KBank is the first and only commercial bank in the country that has been granted the Carbon Neutral Certification by Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization).

October 16, 2018

KBank keen to buy Indonesian banks

The regulations require foreign banks to buy more than one bank, and that the targets must not be strong institutions.

KBank president Pipit Aneaknithi said yesterday that the bank currently had partnerships with two banks in Indonesia, and was prepared in terms of facilities and capital to establish its own footprint in the Indonesian market.

While Indonesia has very high potential for KBank and the takeover of local banks is an option, the requirement that foreign banks have to purchase more than one bank is something that it might not be particularly comfortable with, he said.

The Bank of Thailand acknowledges this concern, he said, adding that market entry via the Qualified Asean Banks (QAB) scheme is another potential solution for KBank.

The bank is therefore interested in applying for QAB status if the scheme’s framework is implemented.

Meanwhile, the establishment of a physical branch in Indonesia is likely to be more difficult than doing so in Vietnam, which is another focus country for KBank, the president said.

The best solution right now for KBank is therefore seen as the continued partnership with two local banks in Indonesia, he explained.

Elsewhere in Asean, KBank currently has physical branches in two markets, one each in Cambodia and Laos.

The Cambodian branch will be officially opened on February 8, with the Vientiane branch in Laos due to be opened later this year.

With the presence of a physical branch in a foreign market not always the best solution, and the cost of establishing such an operation today a major matter, partnering with local banks is a tangible way to conduct business, he said.

However, the difficulty is whether the bank and its partners have the same policy direction and share a similar interest in accommodating clients, he added.

KBank, meanwhile, has been active in terms of international banking business in the past seven years by focusing on China, where it is upgrading to local banking this year.

The market share of KBank in trade finance between Thailand and China has risen from 5 per cent to 15 per cent in seven years, Pipit said.

He said the next step for KBank in tapping a regionalised trade-finance market dominated by China would be for the bank to facilitate financial services to Thai clients for business between one foreign country and another. “We should open a letter-of-credit service to our clients in China who want to run a business in Myanmar,” he said by way of example.

Furthermore, KBank must embrace the digital platform in order to integrate its regional operating model.

Under its banking-platform plan for 2016-2017, KBank must be able to service cross-border mobile transfers, multicurrency transactions and cross-border direct settlement, he stressed.

KBank yesterday reported a 2016 net profit of Bt40.17 billion, some 1.77 per cent higher than the previous year’s level.

The bank and its subsidiaries set aside a loan-loss reserve of Bt33.75 billion at the year’s end, up 28 per cent from Bt26.37 billion the year before.

The higher reserve reflects the rise in non-performing loans last year, from 2.7 per cent to 3.32 per cent.

Lending growth, meanwhile, supported net interest income, for which KBank recorded year-on-year growth of 5.5 per cent to Bt89.67 billion.

January 19, 2017

Massive Failure of KBANK before New Year

Kasikorn Bank says it is working to fix the complete outage of its services Friday before New Year, which comes just before a bank holiday.

On a day many say they need access to their money the most, K-Bank’s ATMs as well as online and mobile banking systems have been offline since Friday morning and were still unavailable as of 5pm.

The bank has yet state the cause of the error, but responded to complaints on its Facebook page and Twitter account it was trying to solve the problem.

The bank said it could not provide the specific time its website and application services would be working again.

K-Bank’s mobile system was also disrupted briefly Thursday evening.

January 18, 2017

Tag: Kasikorn Bank