Bangkok – Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is to reduce the number of its branches to 400 over the next few years, as it shifts predominately to online banking solutions to meet customer demand.
SCB President & CEO Arthid Nanthawithaya said that banks have been forced to change the way they service clients, amid fierce competition in the commercial banking sector and widespread adoption of new technology. In addition, the revenue structure of banks has drastically changed from the 30:70 ratio of fees to interest rates in the past, to a new reality where banks can expect less revenue from interest rates in future.
This year, SCB aims to increase banking efficiency, high-yield lending, digital banking, data utilization, and support for small businesses. Its main sources of revenue will be corporate loans, consumer loans, and wealth management.
Notably, SCB plans to lessen the number of branches it operates from 1,153 to 400 and employee numbers from 27,000 to 15,000, in order to focus on online banking, technological innovations, and data solutions.
