Krungthai Bank (KTB) aims for 30% of 6,000 shippers nationwide to use its newly launched cards for electronic payments by the middle of next year, its chief says.
The Krungthai Logistics Card can lower costs for shipping operators using cash or cheques, said the bank's president Payong Srivanich.
KTB, the country's fourth-largest lender by assets, is the first financial institution offering such a card, enabling shippers to pay taxes and fees imposed by the Customs Department for both exports and imports, cargo fees for Thai Airways International and Bangkok Flight Services, and port fees for Port Authority of Thailand and privately owned ports.
Holders of the card, which must be tied to savings, current or overdraft accounts, can make payments by swiping the cards through electronic data capture terminals.
He said the card cannot be used for cash withdrawals, but the bank will add a collateral-free lending application in the future.
Even though the KTB lags its large bank peers in terms of digital banking, it has leveraged partnerships with state enterprises to get an edge. The bank just rolled out its full-scale mobile banking app, Krungthai Next, in October.
KTB recently said it aims for 3 million mobile banking users by year-end, and 10 million next year.
Krisada Chinavicharana, director-general of the Customs Department, said a mere 2% of the department's taxes and fees are paid by cash now.
The Krungthai Logistics Card should further raise the department's e-payment ratio, he said.
Mr Krisada said more than half of the department's tariff and fee payments are made via e-payment, with the remainder by cashier cheques.
Customs collected 19 billion baht during the first two months of the 2019 fiscal year, surpassing the target by 10%.
The higher than targeted tax revenue could be attributed to the robust growth of imports and exports, and tax leakage stemming from tightening imports of some agricultural products, he said.
The department's 100-billion-baht tax revenue target for this fiscal year is considered reachable, said Mr Krisada.
