It will be the first all-in-one customer service centre to be equipped with smart technology and systems as well as the “My Daikin” application to caters to all service needs.

The company aims to maximise customer satisfaction to reach 15 per cent growth in 2019, the company’s chairman, Phornthep Phornprapha, said yesterday in a press release.

With 1,300 square metres of utility space, the centre will serve customers in the Bangkok metropolitan area. It will house a business development department, quality assurance section, and a repair service for both residential and commercial air conditioners, the release said. It will also offer a maintenance contract sales service for all air conditioners.

Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong stressed that a deal uniting the two banks with the involvement of a foreign partner has not been finalised.

Apisak said that while representatives of foreign and Thai shareholders of TMB and TBank had met him for discussions on a possible merger of the banks, no conclusion had yet been reached.

The talks involved the view of the ministry on the tie-up as well as matters such as tax privileges for asset liquidation after any merger proceeded.

“They (both banks) came in for the discussions separately. If they came in together, that means the result has been reached,” Apisak said. “There are several options for a combination of the two banks and the merger is one among these options. They (the two banks) have not told us when the deal will be finalised. If the deal is not done within 2022, they will not obtain tax privileges.”

As the major shareholder of TMB, the Ministry of Finance does not have a policy to sell its stake in the bank, he said. The first option discussed was the merger and the ministry has reviewed whether the value of its holding in the bank will rise, and other retail investors must do the same calculations, he said.

“If there is a merger, the value of stocks must rise” but if the value of the new entity, once merged, goes down, the ministry will hold the deal, he said, adding “we have to look at the future and see it (the deal) from the vantage point of the shareholder, not the Ministry of Finance.”

Aside from TBank, several banks including Krungthai Bank have had discussions on a possible merger with TMB, Apisak said. “We want banks to merge and become bigger to compete with other banks in the region. But it all depends on the banks. We’ve paved the way for them,” he said.

An anonymous source from the finance industry said that Scotiabank, a shareholder of TBank, had had discussions with the Ministry of Finance over a possible merger with TMB during the past one to two months. The talks also covered after-merger privileges. Ultimately, if a deal proposal is to succeed it must gain the approval of the shareholders in the two banks targeted for the merger.

Canadian-based Scotiabank is expected to proceed with final negotiations with the ministry soon. Yesterday, TBank had a meeting of its board of directors and Scotiabank made a presentation at the meeting to help define TBank’s 2019 strategy. Reportedly, Scotiabank will take this opportunity to finalise the deal during this visit by its representatives to Thailand.

Based on the initial discussions, after the merger, ING Bank is expected to become the biggest shareholder. The Dutch lender would own a third of all stakes in the new bank, while other shareholders – including the Ministry of Finance, TMB and TBank – are expected to dilute their holdings.

The proposed deal is aimed at enlarging both banks’ customer base, helping them to expand overseas and compete with local banks in other countries. This is against the backdrop of possible lower business growth for banks in light of technological disruption and increasing competition between banks, including financial and non-financial institutions.

Managing TBank, given its management structure and need for digital technology, for growth would be a difficult task, while TMB has strengths in digital technology for deposits and services, the source said. Once merged, the new bank is expected to become one of the country’s leading commercial banks, the source said.

“Negotiations for the shareholding are required on who will hold more, who will sell stakes,” the source said. “Scotiabank may sell its stakes to ING Bank to allow the latter to become the biggest shareholder. One of the new bank’s obstacles is that its executives are from the older generations and it could be more difficult for them to transform the bank from an old-style business to digitally based one. Now, TBank’s strength lies in its hire purchase portfolio, which could complement the new bank’s offerings after a merger.”

According to its press statement, under this partnership, the creative workforce will benefit from information-based lending service from Krungsri Consumer, together with a plan to also offer other financial products in the future.

The collaboration is expected to help Krungsri Consumer expand its customer base to cover the new generation of freelance professionals, and help further support the so-called ‘Creative Economy’ in Thailand.

Thakorn Piyapan, Krungsri Consumer’s chairman, and head of Digital Banking and Innovation, Bank of Ayudhya said “Krungsri Consumer is pleased to extend our partnership network for information-based lending service to also include Six network.

The Six network is a leading provider of Decentralized Service for several well-known digital creative platforms for online content creators such as Joylada, Tunwalai, Fungjai, fictionlog, ADMAX (in South Korea), Yello Story (in South Korea), and Fastwork.

Currently, there are over one million users of Six network’s platform across the region, and Six network’s service is also open for users in other platforms. Through our recent collaboration with an industry leader like SIX, Krungsri Consumer will be able to effectively expand our customer base of the new generation who prefers working as freelancers.

The group, although they earn good incomes, often face difficulties to seek loans because they lack financial statements due to their freelance work nature. With a new approach called the information-based lending, we will be able to provide freelance professionals with greater access to a wide range of financial products including installment loans, personal loans and credit cards.”

“In a beginning phase starting from January 2019, the Six network’s content providers and creative professionals in Thailand can contact the network to inquire about applying for financial services from Krungsri First Choice, our sales financing and personal loan brand.

Afterwards, Krungsri First Choice will be in charge of the approval process, taking into consideration the information from the database from Six network’s applications, related to the income of the creative workers who applied and agreed to disclose the information, such as the number of jobs and actual income from selling their works and copyright fees on a monthly basis.

We are also in the process to develop a better connection between our databases to ensure a more efficient and quicker analysis for loan approvals in the future. In addition to personal loan, installment loan and credit card, Krungsri Consumer is also looking into the possibility of allowing this group of customers to be accessible to other services in the future.

The move will give equal opportunity to people seeking financial services and help expand Krungsri Consumer’s customer base to include the younger generation aged 20-30 years old who are freelancers. The company targets around THB 1 billion loans during the first year. We also expect this partnership will help contribute to Thailand’s move into sustainable creative economy,” said Thakorn.

Meanwhile Natavudh Pungcharoenpong, Co-CEO of Six network, said “Today’s creators have produced a lot of works on online platforms, and have made steady incomes. This partnership will help the creative people who would be a major force in the creative economy to have greater accesses to financial services from a leading financial service provider such as Krungsri Consumer. It also means that creative works  have become their digital assets that can genuinely generate incomes and gain more acceptance in the financial market.”

Tanarat Pasawongse, chief executive of the group, said the firm is negotiating with partners in order to set up QR Payment kiosks in Chiang Mai, Udon Thani and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces in addition to Bangkok.

The move responds to customer preferences and will ensure that they do not need to wait in long queues to purchase gold at the group’s branches, he said at the International Innovation Summit 2018 in Macau.

“We manufacture and distribute gold products and finely crafted gold jewellery, combining the skills of master goldsmiths with technology from state-of-the-art machines to create unique pieces,” Tanarat said. “In addition to jewellery, gold investment products are also offered to fulfil customers needs.”

With evolving technological advances and changes in customer buying behaviour, Hua Seng Heng is now offering more ways for customers to reach them, and to get what they need.

The Gold Express QR Payment kiosk won in the “service and solution” category of the International Innovation Awards 2018.

The Gold Express QR Payment kiosk gives customers another option and offers the quickest payment method because of its technology.

“It is simple, secure and free of charge,” Tanarat said. Customers pay for the gold via using the QR code at the kiosk and show the QR code payment when they pick up the gold at Hua Seng Heng branches.

Customers can also purchase gold bullion using real-time pricing. This cashless method allows purchases to be made simply with the customer’s real-time know-your-customer (KYC) in conjunction with a QR payment via the Mobile Banking Application.

Meeting highest standards in reliability, this user-friendly technology is perfect for any lifestyle, he says.

In Bangkok, the firm has set up four Gold Express QR Payment kiosks at Silom, Yaowarat and Srinakarin roads.

He said Hua Seng Heng has also created a mobile application called HSH Trade, which allows customers to purchase gold via the gold-trading system, which shows gained revenue via an online channel.

For its next innovation, Hua Seng Heng will provide gold through one-stop services, Tanarat added.

It will be a hyper-scale facility to serve digital needs in the Greater Bangkok area.

TICON will hold a 51 per cent stake in the venture, with STT GDC holding the rest.

Frasers Property-STT GDC, will develop the first data centre on 15 rai (2.4 hectares) of land in Bangkok’s Ramkhamhaeng district. Construction is expected to start mid-2019 and is due for completion and service commencement in the following year.

This project is in line with the Thailand 4.0 initiative to develop a digital economy, as well as the government’s National Digital Economy masterplan. The digital economy is expected to bring robust growth and contribute up to 25 per cent of Thailand’s GDP by 2027. At the same time, public cloud spending in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan is expected to grow exponentially at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.58 per cent between 2016 and 2021.

The projected increase in digitalisation and digital transformation is expected to bring about a correspondent increase in demand for digital infrastructure and data-centre capacity in Thailand and the region, Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, chairman of TICON’s executive committee, said yesterday.

“We believe in the potential of expanding our focus to develop Thailand’s digital economy and transforming urban living with Smart Cities. Developing a digital infrastructure with a state-of-the-art data centre is one of our key investments in the new economy. We are delighted to partner with a reputed global player like STT GDC in this joint venture, and believe the combined strengths of both companies will best serve the digital growth plans of our customers,” he added.

Bruno Lopez, group chief executive officer of STT GDC, said this development marked their first foray into the Thai data-centre market, and will strengthen their expanding network across major data-centre markets around the world.

“With our ‘think global, act local’ mantra, we believe TICON, with their rich legacy and successful operating history in the country, will be a valuable partner. We are confident that with our expertise in designing, building and operating data centres to the highest global standards in key markets such as Singapore, China, India and the UK, and TICON’s understanding of the Thai market and navigating its regulatory environment, we will be able to meet the demands of our customers to support their digital growth and help them realise the Thailand 4.0 vision, ” he added.