Thai banking giant aims to have 1.3 million Vietnamese customers by the end of this year

Officially opening a branch in the Vietnamese market in August 2022, at the end of May, with the plan approved by the State Bank, KBank Ho Chi Minh City Branch increased its charter capital from 80 million USD to 285 million USD, an increase of more than 2.5 times.

'Ông lớn' ngân hàng Thái tham vọng có 1,3 triệu khách hàng Việt đến cuối năm nay - Ảnh 1. — From left to right: Mr. Chat Luangarpa, Executive Vice President of KBank, Mr. Pipt Aneaknithi, Chairman of KBank and Mr. Chatuporn, General Director of KBank Ho Chi Minh City Branch

The head of this bank also said that with the determination to penetrate the Vietnamese market, KBank plans to increase its investment from 285 million USD in 2023 to 735 million USD in 2027. The workforce in Vietnam is also expected to grow from 350 employees in 2023 to 1,700 employees in 2027.

In addition, KBank's KPLUS application has been "launched" in Vietnam for only 1 year but has recorded 760,000 users. This number continues to increase, promoting the bank's aspiration to reach the target of 1.3 million users by the end of this year and the target of reaching 8.4 million users by 2027.

Responding to Thanh Nien Newspaper's question about why KBank is pursuing opportunities in Vietnam, Mr. Pipit Aneaknithi said that the reason is because Vietnam has had remarkable development, demonstrated by its consistently high GDP growth rate over the past decade, and Vietnam continues to consolidate its position as one of the fastest growing economies in the region. It is estimated that by 2023, Vietnam will rank 30th globally in terms of GDP. In addition, the increase in the working-age population is significantly shaping the long-term consumption trend in Vietnam.

Mr. Chat Luangarpa, Executive Vice President of KBank - who steers KBank's regional expansion strategy, added: "In 2013, when I came to Vietnam for a trip, I traveled from Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City... and felt very excited about Vietnam's development potential. In 2015, when KBank opened a representative office in Hanoi, I came to Vietnam regularly and each time I came, I saw stronger development. Therefore, our bank identified Vietnam as an important market in the ASEAN bloc. This is an opportunity for us to support and accompany the development of Vietnam, focusing on supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs)".

Mr. Chat Luangarpa said that in Vietnam, SMEs account for more than 97% of the total number of enterprises but only account for 20% of the market share in the credit capital market structure. KBank has researched the market on the capital needs of this market segment to build an online support channel for SMEs in the coming months. "SMEs and online businesses can easily access loans through digital platforms without having to go directly to a bank branch. KBank plans to expand its loan portfolio in this form to about 40 million USD by the end of this year" - KBank's Executive Vice President informed.

KBank's leadership also mentioned that it will focus on the segment of customers who do not have bank accounts or those who do not have access to mainstream financial services. "We focus on serving all customer groups in Vietnam from businesses, SMEs and individual customers by empowering them to seize economic opportunities through financial and non-financial support," said Mr. Chat Luangarpa.

In addition, KBank's leaders also pay attention to expanding financial services to rural areas, where access to essential financial services is still limited compared to urban areas, to contribute to equitable growth.

KBank's move into Vietnam is not simply a geographical expansion, but more importantly, a testament to its commitment to innovation, comprehensive development and superior service, KBank's leaders shared.

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