(9 January 2023 – Thailand) The Bank of Thailand (BoT) plans to grant up to three virtual banking licences and permit both financial institutions and non-financial firms to apply.
This comes amid a push from the central bank to boost competition in the first stage of its digital plans, seeking to widen loan access and cut costs for businesses.
The ministry and the BoT plan to closely monitor the operations of the new licence holders.
The central bank said it will consider more licence applications in the future if additional players meet the requirements of virtual banks.
“Higher competition will strengthen the overall banking system by prompting existing players to improve their services and innovations,” said BoT Assistant Governor, Tharith Panpiemras.