Central Banking

Credit card holders set to rise if BOT eases rule

THAILAND - The number of credit card holders is expected to increase significantly if the Bank of Thailand agrees to decrease the minimum monthly salary required to be a card member from 15,000 to 10,000 baht, according to executives in the banking sector.
THAILAND - The number of credit card holders is expected to increase significantly if the Bank of Thailand agrees to decrease the minimum monthly salary required to be a card member from 15,000 to 10,000 baht, according to executives in the banking sector.

Somboon Krobtheeravong, manager of Visa International in Thailand and Indonesia, said the easing of the minimum salary requirement would increase the number of eligible applicants for Visa credit cards by 1.7 million from 2.6 million at current.

He expressed support for some banks' move to call on the central bank to increase the minimum loan amount extended to credit card holders or allow banks to decide on the lending amount on their own.

He said each commercial bank already had an efficient risk management system and so should be allowed to control lending risks by themselves.

Somchai Sakulsurarat, president of Thai Military Bank, said commercial banks' credit-card holder base would expand and people would have greater access to bank loans if the BOT eased the minimum salary requirement.

He said TMB targeted to double the number of holders of the bank's credit cards this year. It was also expected the number of the bank's Visa Electron debit card holders would rise to 1.7 million at the end of this year from 1.1 million at present.

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