Ascend Bank, the virtual bank backed by Charoen Pokphand Group, is expected to debut in July, CP Group senior vice-chairman Suphachai Chearavanont said.
The planned launch comes after rival Clicx Bank announced earlier this week it plans to launch its mobile app on June 19, aiming to tap underserved customers.
Clicx Bank, jointly established by Krungthai Bank, Advanced Info Service, and PTT Oil and Retail Business, received its license on May 14, the first of three applicants to obtain approval from the Bank of Thailand.
Suphachai, who is also board chairman of True Corporation, dismissed concerns that the group might be falling behind its rivals. Starting operations a few months after competitors is not a significant issue for the group’s long-term strategy, he noted.
Somchai Lertlarpwasin, assistant governor for financial institutions supervision at the central bank, said earlier that the two other successful applicants for virtual bank licenses requested delays for their business operations.
These are CP-backed ACM Holding and the SCB X consortium, which includes KakaoBank and WeBank.
Suphachai said CP All must follow the relevant requirements, including seeking the opinions of CP All shareholders, after the central bank required virtual bank license applicants to consolidate their financial businesses under their control into a single business group, separate from non-financial operations.
CP All organized an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on May 29 to decide on whether to approve the integration. The result is unlikely to disrupt the tentative roadmap for Ascend Bank’s debut, Suphachai said.
He said the launch remains subject to the central bank’s discretion, particularly concerning CP Group’s organizational framework.
Arak Sutivong, deputy chief executive at SCB X, said its virtual bank, Bank X, is completing compliance procedures and expects to start operations later this year.
“We do not believe early service providers necessarily have an advantage as the key factors are meeting customer needs and creating differentiation,” he said.