SCB X, the holding company of Siam Commercial Bank, has outlined its new vision for the future of banking, positioning artificial intelligence (AI) as the core infrastructure that redefines how financial institutions operate, serve customers, and create new business opportunities in the years ahead.
Instead of relying on traditional application interfaces, customers are expected to increasingly interact with banks through conversational banking platforms using chat and voice commands.
AI systems will be capable of resolving issues instantly, reducing dependence on call centres and significantly improving service speed and convenience, said Kaweewut Temphuwapat, chief innovation officer of SCB X and chief executive of SCB 10X.
The report highlights how AI is rapidly evolving beyond chatbot-style assistants into autonomous agentic AI systems capable of planning, decision-making, and task execution. The future of banking, according to the report, will focus heavily on seamless and hyper-personalised customer experiences powered by AI.
The financial industry is approaching a major transition from traditional banking models towards becoming "AI-first companies", where AI is no longer viewed merely as a technology tool, but as the central engine driving operational transformation, customer engagement, and long-term value creation, he said.
AI is entering a new phase in which systems continuously operate as "always-on intelligence", capable not only of answering questions but also proactively assisting customers and executing tasks autonomously, noted Mr Kaweewut.
"This represents a structural transformation in how businesses operate," he said.
SCB X also highlighted the growing important role of AI in analysing customer behaviour and financial needs at an individual level rather than grouping customers into broad segments.
This allows banks to offer highly tailored financial products, investment solutions, and lifestyle-related services, effectively transforming AI into a personal financial assistant for each customer.
EFFICIENCY GAINS
Beyond customer-facing applications, SCB X believes AI will significantly modernise back-office operations and reduce inefficiencies across the banking industry.
AI can automate complex workflows, reduce paper-based processes, and shorten service turnaround times dramatically, said Mr Kaweewut.
For example, loan approval processes that traditionally take weeks could eventually be reduced to just minutes through AI-driven decision systems.
Employees will increasingly evolve into supervising and refining AI systems rather than performing repetitive execution-based tasks. Analytical thinking, judgement, and systems-level understanding are expected to become critical workforce skills in the AI era.
SCB X also sees AI becoming a key tool in strengthening governance, security, and fraud prevention across financial institutions.
AI systems can help monitor frontline operations to ensure employees provide accurate information to customers while also improving the detection of abnormal financial transactions, including fraudulent accounts and suspicious payment activities, according to the report.
NEW BUSINESS MODEL
The report highlighted that AI could unlock entirely new revenue streams and business models beyond conventional financial products.
Among the emerging trends are agentic commerce, where AI autonomously recommends products and services aligned with customer lifestyles, and agent payment, which would enable AI systems to conduct payments on behalf of users.
SCB X also pointed to the rise of generative engine optimisation, where banks and businesses restructure their data and digital presence to appear more prominently on AI-driven platforms such as ChatGPT and other generative search systems, rather than relying solely on traditional search engines or social media platforms.
The group, nonetheless, stressed that successful AI transformation requires more than deploying technology. Organisations must redesign workflows, reshape corporate culture, and improve AI literacy across all levels of the workforce to enable effective collaboration between humans and AI systems.
The report also highlighted the growing importance of localised AI and sovereign AI infrastructure.
SCB X has developed AI technologies such as "Typhoon" to support Thai-language use cases, regional dialects, and on-device processing, aimed at improving accessibility and relevance for local users.
Organisations that can rapidly convert AI into scalable business value while reinventing their operating models will gain the strongest competitive advantage, noted Mr Kaweewut.
