CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) targets growing its digital banking business by 20% this year in terms of users and transactions, driven by increasing digital adoption in Thailand.
According to CIMBT president and chief executive Paul Wong Chee Kin, the bank's retail customer base numbers around 600,000, with half on the digital platform.
The bank plans to move the remaining 300,000 individual customers using traditional banking services onto the digital platform.
CIMBT also expects to increase its IT and digital investment budget by 15-20% this year from the previous year to support digital banking expansion.
The higher investment budget should help to strengthen the digital infrastructure system, he said, in particular sustainability, reliability and security over the long run.
No figures were disclosed.
Though the bank is pushing digitalisation, CIMBT has no plans to close its existing 53 brick-and-mortar branches. Instead, it wants to increase its wealth centres by 2-3 branches, up from 10 now.
Mr Wong said the number of existing branches is considered reasonable for CIMBT to cover the bank's customer base and ensure positive business growth, especially for deposits.
The digital era led several banks both locally and regionally to close traditional branches in droves the past few years.
"The pandemic also encouraged digital adoption in the Thai market over the past few years. Banking transactions in the Thai market overall showed strong growth of around 40% a year in recent years," he said.
CIMBT, 94.83% owned by the Malaysia-based CIMB Group, is also focusing on digital banking business expansion in the region under the group's strong Asean network.
Asean Connectivity, which includes the collaboration of regional central banks, supported the bank's digital services across the region.
Digital linkage through the national payment system of each Asean country and the PromptPay system of Thailand offers cross-border payment to consumers. PromptPay is expanding to cover cross-border payment services for corporations.
Mr Wong said CIMBT set positive growth goals for the commercial banking business, focusing on regional expansion of corporates for both inbound and outbound investment.
Cross-border trade is a key area offering greater opportunities in line with Asean's economic recovery and digital trends, he said.
For 2023, CIMBT expects to grow total loans in the high single digits, down from 11% last year, and keep the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio steady from 3.3% last year.
Despite signs of a domestic recovery, the economy is still pressured by rising interest rates and a high inflation rate, according to the bank.
