GSB turns focus to providing cellphone banking service

Mobile-phone banking service has been proved to be successful in several developing countries, especially in Africa. Savings and retail banks in Vietnam and South Korea are also offering service via mobile phone, he said.

The new service allows banks to expand their business to people in remote areas where setting upnew branches is not commercially viable. The poor could also easily access financial service, said Yongyuth.

Security is also better than Internet banking services as sim cards play a critical role in safeguarding against hackers, he said.

The system has to recognise both a unique sim card and password, before allowing money transfer or withdrawals, he said.

Clients could also pay their water, electricity, credit card bills and mortgage monthly payment.

The bank would help them to save the cost of these transactions, he said.

The GSB could also seek fees for these new services, estimated to be about Bt100 million if one million of the bank's account holders apply for the service, he said.

The bank has invested about Bt1 billion in its new computer system, which will be ready to run by early September, he said.

The bank will start with the depositing business then will expand to other activities next year. The bank currently is training to use a new core banking system. He said the bank has learned a lot from the mistakes of other banks, referring to news report of computer hackers attacking Internet banking services.

GSB has to test its banking security system, making sure of top security for both bank and clients. The bank currently has 30 million accounts. Meanwhile, Lersak Chuladesa, director-general of GSB, said the bank staff have started to visit vendors in the market or communities in order to provide loans. Each can get a loan of up to Bt30,000 and he or she needs only one person to guarantee the loan payment.

The bank staff also visit shopkeepers who may want to borrow money to run their business.

The loans would be as high as Bt500,000 with a low interest rate of 5.85 per cent per annum. Mortgage loans are also available.

The bank recently also lowered its People's Bank rate from 1 per cent monthly to 0.5 per cent for loan not exceeding Bt30,000 and 0.75 per cent for loans higher than Bt30,000 to Bt100,000.