Siam Commercial Bank Pcl plans to provide payments and lending to increase revenues from digital banking

Siam Commercial Bank Pcl (SCB) announced that it has partnered with e-commerce and game developer Sea Ltd’s Thai operations. SCB is looking to expand its footprints into digital payments and lending service, as reported by Reuters.

Apiphan Charoenanusorn, SCB’s President, said that the lending services aimed at small businesses on Singapore-based Sea’s platforms. It will integrate Sea’s AirPay to SCB’s apps, allowing customers to pay bills directly via the app.

SCB has stated that it is a part of their strategy to secure partnerships and expand its digital capabilities, including payments and lending.

Another part of that strategy also reflected in an undisclosed amount of the investment that SCB made in Indonesian ride-hailing startup gojek’s Thai unit, Get. The next in line after the investment will be planning to expand financial services to drivers on the app.

Thai banks reportedly have been pressured by falling fee income following a waiver on digital transaction fees since last year, which explains the decision behind the partnership with Sea Group.

Also Read: Sea Group trying to raise US$1.5 billion likely aimed at Shopee

Due to lower fee income, SCB’s non-interest revenue dropped by 9.7 per cent in the first half of 2019.

On the contrary, Sea, which owns e-commerce platform Shopee and operates in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, has seen its revenue more than tripled in the April-June period. It just secured US$1.5 billion this year to expand its e-commerce business.

Back in April 2019, Sea Group shared with e27 that it plans on expanding its gaming arm Garena into the live streaming ecosystem.
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Picture Credit: Sea Group

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