Mainboard-listed Silverlake Axis (SAL) 5CP , on Feb 24, announced a series of milestones to its operations in Thailand as it plans its digital banking growth in the country.
The country remains a priority growth market for SAL, reads the Feb 24 statement.
Among the milestones include the appointment of Ouracha Pongwattana as the group’s country director. Pongwattana, who joined SAL in 2018 as its director of structured services, will also be the group’s country director for Sri Lanka. His new role means he will oversee all the operations in both Thailand in Sri Lanka.
In addition, SAL announced that it plans to grow its human capital footprint by 40% in 2023.
At the same time, SAL announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Thai state-owned EXIM Thailand to innovate its core banking system. Both parties, who signed the EXIM core banking system agreement, will see SAL aiding the development of EXIM Thailand’s core banking systems, and driving its business strategy towards digital banking.
Referencing McKinsey’s report on Thai banking in November 2022, Thailand will be able to meet the evolving needs and preferences by building future-ready capabilities for it to compete as a regional banking leader.
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The overall Asean banking market-cap saw Thailand decline by 5% over the previous decade, which has caused Thai banks to be displaced by regional players as the most valuable banks.
“This also presents an opportunity for increased value creation - shifts in customer preferences and innovative technology demonstrate that consumers are looking for superior digital experiences. The Thai banking industry is accelerating the adoption of innovative technology to revamp business models, reduce costs and increase efficiency,” says SAL.
Furthermore, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up 99.6% of enterprises in Thailand and 70% of its workforce but only 30% of them have access to financing.
“Banks need to rethink operating models and offerings to address underserved segments. With innovative service models and digital-led capabilities, Thai banks can prepare the economy for changes ahead. Consequently, they can capture the opportunity of the consumer finance segment,” notes the group.
On Pongwattana’s appointment, SAL’s group managing director Andrew Tan says, “Ouracha has helped SAL achieve its goals and go beyond what we expected in one of our priority growth markets, and has set his sights on increasing our headcount there by 40% by the end of 2023.”
“We are delighted and excited to welcome Ouracha in his new role and wish him all the best for this next chapter,” he adds.
On the partnership with EXIM Thailand, the newly-appointed country director Pongwattana notes that the group is “always looking for new solutions to make digital banking transformation more affordable and commercially viable while maintaining scalability.”
“We serve customers from all segments regardless of their size and business models. EXIM Thailand is our latest key partner whose operations and reach will join our 10+ million customers across 1,800 branches and over 50,000 customers using only digital offerings”, he adds
“With our project management experience and proven methodology, we have been helping retail businesses, SMEs, payment solution providers, and commercial banks with our exceptional success track record - and we will continue to do so.”
As at 10.44am, shares in SAL are trading 0.5 cent higher or 1.47% up at 34.5 cents.
