KASIKORNBANK unveiled plans and business targets for 2025, aiming to deliver sustainable value to stakeholders, with leveraging technology to uplift productivity, and enhancing services to offer the right products and services to customers, to reinforce the Bank’s position as trusted partner.
Ms. Kattiya Indaravijaya, Chief Executive Officer, KASIKORNBANK said, “KBank will further elevate services to customers by leveraging innovation and AI technology to drive productivity, uplift products and services, and pioneer new products and services tailored to customers’ needs, as well as enhancing customers’ overall experiences with the Bank.”
The Bank’s strategy focuses on balanced and efficient growth while keeping an eye on potential economic headwinds, both locally and globally, as well as the increasing geopolitical uncertainty. The bank has set the following targets for 2025:
- Loan Growth: focus on growing quality loans in selective recovering sectors and secured loans; continue focusing on asset quality by revamping credit strategy, reinvigorating key capabilities, and enhancing end-to-end transformation. The Bank targets flat loan growth in 2025.
- Net Interest Margin (NIM): 3.3-3.5%, in line with interest rate trend and quality loan growth. NIM minus credit cost will continue to improve.
- Net Fee Income Growth: Mid to High-single Digit, driven by new strategic growth in wealth management business, despite lower conventional transaction fees amid changing consumer behavior.
- Cost to income ratio: Low to Mid-40s
- NPL ratio (Gross): less than 3.25%, slightly stable amid uncertain economic recovery.
- Credit Cost: expected to reach normalize level in the range of 140-160bps, with continued prudent financial policy to cover future uncertainties.
Ms. Kattiya expects the Thai economy in 2025 to grow at 2.4%, slightly lower than last year. Private consumption and exports remain the key drivers of economic growth, albeit with less growth momentum, along with higher government spending. The Thai economy still faces several challenges, including high household debt, escalating geopolitical issues, and weakened major global economic conditions.
With these very much at the forefront of our minds, and with our long-standing commitment to fostering sustainable growth for our customers’ businesses as a trusted partner, we are doubling down on making our organization resilient as we continue to execute our longer-term plans in what we call our ‘3+1 and Productivity Strategy.’
KBank’s ‘3+1 and Productivity Strategy’ is the combination of the strategy that has been implemented continuously since 2024 including the 3 key priorities which are reinvigorating credit performance, scaling capital-lite fee income businesses, and strengthening and pioneering sales and service models, together with the ‘+1’ strategy creating new revenue streams for the medium- and long-term. Additionally in 2025, KBank also focuses on Productivity strategy to enhance its performance.
During 2025, the bank is accelerating its focus on leveraging advanced technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable it to support its more than 24 million customers to achieve their full potential.
KBank will continue developing the 3+1 strategic priorities as follows.
Strategy 1: Reinvigorate Credit Performance with a continued focus on quality growth by enhancing loan quality with emphasis on serving existing quality customers through tailored solutions and leveraging data analytics to effectively address customer needs, as well as enhancing end-to-end transformation to elevate credit capabilities. More than 90% of new loan bookings in 2024 came from secured loans and from existing customers who are well known by the Bank. In 2025, KBank will continue focusing on quality loan growth and supporting quality customers, both individual and business, and reactivate support and education programs for SME to enhance our competitiveness and support customers’ sustainable growth.
Strategy 2: Scale Capital-lite Fee Income Businesses by providing investment and payment solutions addressing customers’ needs via channels suitable to each customer group.
- For Wealth Business: KBank continues to promote investment services and being a Trusted Advisor with a variety of investment solutions through “Core & Satellite” portfolio management, leveraging the strength of global partners and local expertise. The Bank responses to a wide range of needs and risk tolerance of customers with investment experts and convenient investment services through K PLUS platform, as well as the ‘Better Finance for Better Life’ service on K PLUS that integrates financial portfolio management and spending tracking for customers. In 2025, The Bank will continue to offer solutions that comprehensively meet the needs of customers, expand and enhance complex investment products through digital experience, along with strengthening and becoming a knowledge hub through K-Wealth, to reinforce #1 position of KASIKORN ASSET MANAGEMENT (KAsset) in fund management business.
- For Payment Business: K PLUS continues to serve as the connection point to KBank’s wide array of products and services, including payment services. Today, more than one in three online transactions in Thailand happens on K PLUS. Our highlight payment services are Remittance that can be transferred in 25 currencies in 150 countries around the world, QR Payment for international transaction via Alipay+ and WeChat, Currency Exchange through ATMs and FX Booths covering strategic areas, and K PLUS Go Inter services offering international travel services in one place. In 2025, the Bank will continue to develop payment services with K PLUS as the main platform, along with expanding to support the ecosystem in the merchant business to accept a variety of payments.
Strategy 3: Strengthen and Pioneer Sales and Service Models: KBank enhances digital-first experience through K PLUS with a secure, convenient, and better experience throughout the customer journey. In 2025, the Bank targets to increase the number of K PLUS users from 23.1 million to 23.9 million. K BIZ mobile application also has been simplified to complement diverse business, and K BIZ users are targeted to rise from 1.2 million to 2.1 million. In 2025, KBank will also continue to strengthen its leadership position in digital banking offering digital first experience, with #1 position in K PLUS and #1 Overall Brand NPS (Net Promoter Score) in Thai banking industry, as well as #1 Contact Center Services NPS (Net Promoter Score) for services via telephone calls, KBank Live, and social media, according to survey by NielsenIQ, the world’s leading consumer research company.
KBank is also laying the foundation of the Strategic +1 for New Revenue Creation for the Medium- and Long-term. KASIKORN INVESTURE (KIV) serves the mass market with partnerships in the ecosystem, while focusing on asset quality. For regional business, KBank focuses on regional expansion in AEC+3, especially the potential markets in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Also, KBank has enhanced financial services with innovation via ecosystem play and innovation creation, including launching four licenses in digital asset businesses. KBank also supports business transition to net zero emissions, including establishing Kop50 Co., Ltd., a holding company under KASIKORNBANK FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATE, to initiate a comprehensive sustainable ecosystem project. The Bank continuously introduces innovative services to the market through KASIKORN BUSINESS-TECHNOLOGY GROUP’s initiation. During 2022-2024, KBank delivered more than Baht 120 billion in Sustainable Financing (Loans) and Investment.
Productivity Strategy: The Bank will elevate innovation and productivity by blending advanced technology, AI, and human intelligence, while fostering a culture of learning and high performance.
Ms. Kattiya added that KBank has been a driving force in Thailand’s economic development for 80 years and is guided by a philosophy of being a Bank of Sustainability to ensure the bank’s resilience throughout uncertainties and challenges. KBank has become a trusted partner for customers, empowering them to achieve their full potential through innovation and delivering efficient financial solutions. For this, it has been rewarded with the loyalty of its customers, as proven by the bank’s leading position in numerous product and service areas.
