Land and Houses Bank (LH Bank) has appointed Counter Service Co as its banking agent to provide basic financial services at 7-Eleven stores nationwide from the middle of this year.
The financial services to be offered at 7-Eleven will initially comprise fund transfers, bill payment and deposits, said LH Bank president and chief executive Sasatorn Pongsathorn.
With its extensive branch network, 7-Eleven is targeted by many banks. Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) recently appointed Counter Service to provide deposit service for its customers.
Pairath Trangarnrueng, executive vice-president for branch network administration at LH Bank, said the banking agent channel will offer customers more convenience in making transactions and let the bank access a wider customer base.
There is demand for several of the bank's deposit packages offering higher rates than industry peers, but LH Bank's smaller branch network limits new customers from accessing the products, he said.
LH Bank initially plans to maintain its existing 128 physical branches across the country, focusing on relocation rather than either opening or shutting branches, Mr Pairath said.
The small bank with assets of 239 billion baht closed just five brick-and-mortar branches last year, but it may shutter more if transactions at traditional branches decline, he said.
LH Bank's branch transaction volume fell by 30% in 2018 from the year before, while mobile banking users have continued to increase to about 60,000. The bank targets mobile banking users to surge to 78,000 by the end of this year.
The bank's digital banking trend is line with Bank of Thailand data showing that overall mobile banking accounts nearly doubled to 27.8 last year from 14.6 million in 2016.
Digital payment transactions, including PromptPay, and internet and mobile banking, shot up 83% to 5.86 million last year from two years ago.
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