CIMBT mulls converting 7-Eleven branches to agents

CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) may close its three outlets at 7-Eleven stores and turn them into banking agents instead.

The bank opened mini-branches at the 7-Elevens over the past two years but financial transactions have been lower than expected at these channels, said senior executive vice-president Adisorn Sermchaiwong.

Some financial services, such as opening deposit accounts, money deposits, fund transfers and loan applications, are a poor fit for these channels, Mr Adisorn said.

CIMBT is considering a plan to adjust financial services offered at the channels by using 7-Eleven as a banking agent rather than a branch.

The plan has yet to be finalised because the bank is seeking a potential partner, Mr Adisorn said.

CIMBT also uses Thailand Post and Bangchak petrol stations as banking agents.

For next year, the bank plans to transform traditional locations into digital branches by installing automated digital devices, Mr Adisorn said.

Digital transformation and self-service will be key concepts for branch services next year, he said. CIMBT will also retrain branch staff to become financial advisers.

There are 89 conventional branches nationwide. CIMBT aims to reduce these to 75-80 outlets in 2019.

CIMBT, a small bank 94.11% owned by Malaysia’s CIMB Group, yesterday gave an update on its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot through Facebook Messenger that offers customers information, financial advice and products for sale.

The bank introduced the AI chatbot in July and saw an increase in calls from 1,000 a month to 3,000 on average.

Personal loan applications represent about 300 calls or 30% of the total via the AI chatbot per month, while loan approval rate is about 20%.

Mr Adisorn called the development a positive sign of demand for the service.

“We plan to adopt the AI chatbot for the Line chat application in March next year,” he said. “We will move towards integrating digitalisation next year by developing new innovative services, with an investment budget of around 30 million baht.”