Forbes Asia — December 2017

6 Thailand

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

By embracing fintech and other innovations, Bangkok Bank is building on its traditional close relationships

with customers to capture opportunities from domestic and regional growth.

Bangkok Bank:

THE FUTURE OF FINANCE

Throughout its 72-year history, Bangkok
Bank has always been an innovator. It
was the first Thai bank to offer trade
finance services, the first to establish an
international branch network and the first
to computerize its banking system. Now
as financial technology revolutionizes the
banking industry, Bangkok Bank is once
again at the forefront of change.
To ensure it maintains its leadership in
technology and keeps in tune with custom-
ers, the bank is supporting small fintech
start-ups through its accelerator program,
Bangkok Bank InnoHub. This year, eight
leading global fintech companies were
selected to develop cutting-edge services
for the Thai and regional markets alongside
the bank, covering areas such as wealth
management technology solutions, mobile
security and blockchain-based fund trans-
fers. Working with fintechs such as these will
help the bank bring innovative products and
services more quickly to the market. More-
over, with the use of big data and artificial
intelligence, it will be able to mine customer
data to better target and tailor its services.
The use of blockchain technology
will increase the speed of transactions,
reduce costs and facilitate secure identity
verification. The bank has joined the
R3 consortium, a global partnership of
more than 100 leading banks, which is

developing blockchain solutions for the

financial industry. Consortium members

are collaborating on innovative and

groundbreaking commercial blockchain

applications in areas such as trade finance.

Thailand’s Regional Bank

As Bangkok Bank heads down this bold and

exciting path, its goal is to be an industry

leader, not only in Thailand but also in

Southeast Asia where it has 16 international

branches. The bank also has branches in

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the U.K.

and the U.S.—32 branches in total—the

largest international network of any

Thai bank.

Bangkok Bank is an active participant

in capital markets, not only in fundraising

activities covering Thai baht and baht-

denominated transactions, but also

managing transactions for its clients with

major global and regional currencies. In

addition to its domestic wholesale and retail

banking activities, the bank also provides

a comprehensive range of international

transaction services.

In 2016, Bangkok Bank’s assets totaled

THB2.94 trillion (US$82.17 billion), with

THB152.75 billion (US$4.26 billion) in total

income and THB31.81 billion (US$888

million) in net profit.

The Human Touch

Bangkok Bank has always prided itself

on its long and close relationships with

its customers, large and small, and its

commitment to developing a more

affluent society and sustainable economic

growth in Thailand. These principles are

the foundation of its values and culture,

now supported by the latest tools of

modern technology.

Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president and director of Bangkok Bank, (fifth from right) joins

other technology leaders from the bank’s 12-week accelerator program, InnoHub.

bangkokbank.com

The Bangkok Bank (China) head office in Shanghai is just one of six China branches,

including Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xiamen.