Kbank keeps close tabs on borrowers
With higher interest rates and costlier fuel driving up the cost of living, Kasikornbank has been closely monitoring the spending behaviour of its retail-loan customers, Kattiya Indaravijiaya, a senior vice president of Kbank, said yesterday.
Tracking the spending behaviour of the bank's retail borrowers is useful for the bank's loan analysis as well as control of bad debts, she said, adding that data collected so far showed no cause for concern. However, the higher cost of living does make it more difficult for customers to repay loans, and the bank's loan approval rate has fallen from about 70 per cent to about 60 per cent, Kattiya said. Two key factors for the increased loan-application rejection rate are applicants' records at credit agencies and the imbalance between their credit requests and income. Another senior vice president at Kbank, Chatchai Payuhanaveechai, said some of the bank's mortgage-loan customers had asked to extend their lending period, citing the higher cost of living. However he was quick to add that the number of these cases was insignificant. Krisada Lamsam, Kbank's executive vice president, said consumers had yet to feel the pinch from rising interest rates and oil prices. "Borrowers' consumer loan debt-servicing ability remains in good shape, despite the higher cost of living, because they can manage their income and spending," he said. Kasikornbank still maintains its loan-growth target this year at 8 to 9 per cent, despite the economic uncertainty. The economy will gain momentum again in the third or fourth quarter, following the next general election, Krisada said. "When the new government is set up, the country's management policy will be clearer. It will boost domestic investment and consumption, then the country's economy will move ahead," he said. Krisada added the bank's total retail-loan portfolio was about Bt87 billion, of which Bt70 billion was mortgage loans, Bt10 billion credit-card loans and Bt1 billion personal loans. Housing loans remain the major driver of the bank's consumer-loan growth this year. Meanwhile, Krungthai Card Plc forecast that its non-performing loans this year would increase slightly from 1 per cent at the end of last year, while its net profit would drop year on year. Last year, the company posted Bt652.7 million in net profit.
Somruedi Banchongduang The Nation
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