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Thailand Market Leader Kasikornbank Launches Strategic Credit Card Merchant Promotion Program

2006-12-06 19:54 4402



SINGAPORE and AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, Dec. 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --

Kasikornbank, Thailand’s third largest commercial bank, today announced the

launch of a new strategic credit card merchant promotion program, empowered

by payment technology from Welcome. The innovative merchant-driven

promotions are geared to get merchants excited about the bank’s credit

cards, which will in turn drive higher acceptance and usage of the cards.

The new move is congruent with the bank’s efforts to accelerate the growth

of its consumer banking business.

Along with a rebranding of the bank from "Thai Farmers’ Bank"

to "Kasikornbank" in 2002, Kasikornbank began restructuring their retail

business in 2005. The new credit card merchant promotion program, officially

known as "Smart Shopping", is strategic in modernizing the bank’s card

business, giving it a competitive edge to compete against other players in

the market. The program is the first of its kind in Thailand.

"We are very glad to be the payment technology enabler for Kasikornbank

in this innovative program," states Craig Bennett, CEO for Welcome in Asia

Pacific. "This launch is another great endorsement for Welcome."

Kasikornbank’s "Smart Shopping" was launched on 28 November 2006. The

official opening event was held at the glitzy up-market Central World mall.

There are 39 participating retail brands totally more than 300 outlets across

Bangkok and the surrounding regions. The bank plans to substantially grow the

number of retail partners over the next few months.

About Welcome

Welcome is the world’s leading provider of payment software that

utilizes the full capabilities of EMV standard (Europay-MasterCard-Visa) chip

credit and debit cards to create a much more exciting and richer payment

experience. Payment commoditization, resulting in rate wars and fee reforms,

has recently been shown to cost banks five to ten times more than fraud. EMV

cards without Welcome’s software can only combat fraud, whereas the same

cards with Welcome’s software can also fight commoditization, for

essentially the same cost as fraud alone. Welcome was awarded the 2004 ‘ROI

of the Year Award’ by The Banker magazine. Welcome was also recently

honoured with 2006 Frost & Sullivan "Industry Innovation & Advancement

Leadership Award for Smart Cards Payment Software in Asia Pacific". Welcome

is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices and R&D facilities

in Singapore, London, Miami and Sao Paulo. For more information, visit:

http://www.welcome-rt.com .

About Kasikornbank Public Company Limited

KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited was established in 1945 with

registered capital of Baht 5 Million and has been listed on the Stock

Exchange of Thailand (SET) since 1976. As of September 30, 2006, the Bank is

the fourth largest commercial bank in Thailand as measured by total assets.

The Bank provides a broad range of consumer, commercial, and corporate

banking services, including lending, deposit-taking, credit card services,

international trade financing, custodian services, asset management, and

investment banking services. As of October 31, 2006, the Bank operated 552

branches; 168 Metropolitan branches and 384 Upcountry branches. The Bank

branch network extends throughout Thailand’s 76 provinces, as well as

internationally with four branches overseas in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Cayman

Islands and Shenzhen and three representative offices in Beijing, Shanghai

and Kunming. For more information, visit: http://www.kasikornbank.com .

Source: Welcome Real-Time
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