Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) Myanmar has been officially inaugurated, the only Thai bank allowed to operate a wholly-owned subsidiary in Myanmar.
SCB entered Myanmar in 2012 by setting up a representative office.
SCB Myanmar plans to leverage its digital banking expertise to elevate financial products, services and payment systems in Myanmar to fulfil business requirements in Southeast Asia.
The move opens up new capabilities and allows SCB Myanmar to meet the needs of every customer group there, including large corporates, small and medium-sized enterprises, and retail customers, said the bank.
SCB Myanmar wants to capitalise on the bank's branch network by bridging regional trade and investment relations among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, China and Singapore.
"Myanmar has strong growth potential. Despite an imbalance of commercial loans making up 87% or US$18 billion of the total, and retail loans a mere 10%, the Central Bank of Myanmar expects retail lending growth will be exponential," said SCB president Sarut Ruttanaporn. "In addition, digital lending will play an important role, with smartphone usage increasing from 80% to 90% of the total population between 2018-2020."