LINE BK, Thailand’s first social banking for convenient financial services for Thais, reported 5.3 million users and positive feedback for all its services, including 600,000 credit line accounts. The amount of credit provided from its launch until the end of 2022 exceeded 50,000 million baht. LINE BK also reveals its 2023 strategy for efficiency.  Aiming to increase the number of users by 1 million in addition, LINE BK seeks to further develop its products in three groups of services.  The financial transaction service will provide more convenience to access the finance world through LINE. The credit provision service will cover all regions of Thailand, especially the nano credit lines for low-income earners who wish to access a legal loan. This year, LINE BK is expected to offer more credit lines of more than 5,000 million baht. Lastly, the insurance service will be provided through agents in the third quarter of this year.      

Tana Pothikamjorn, Chief Executive Officer of KASIKORN LINE Co., Ltd., revealed that in 2022, LINE BK continues to provide positive financial experiences for Thai people through the application LINE with an aim to provide services with more efficiency and to address their financial needs in line with the concept of “Banking in Your Hand” and plans to launch marketing campaigns to recruit new users. Currently, there are 5.3 million users and all services under LINE BK have been well-received, based on positive data such as nano credit lines provided to 600,000 accounts and the total amount of loan disbursement since its launch to the end of 2022 touching 50,000 million baht.

Regarding financial transactions, new features have been introduced to bridge the gap between the financial world and the social media world. As for credit provision, LINE BK has experienced steady growth due to high demand for loan and through partnerships with Aurora and Srisawad, which were launched in the last quarter of 2022, to provide more loan options for customers.  Up to 50% of eligible customers showed interest in seeking services under such partnerships. Regarding insurance, through a partnership with Muang Thai Life Assurance PCL., LINE BK provides MTL health insurance for specific customer groups via LINE BK’s LINE Official Account through simplified communication about insurance in order to become appealing to low-income earners.     

"In 2022, LINE BK has provided services in all aspects to further reflect (or cement) its position as a social banking. New technologies have been rolled out to offer more convenience for customers including establishing a more convenient LINE BK application process for K PLUS users, introducing money transfer features via QR code as well as via chat by merely inputting a money figure, and employing an artificial intelligence (AI) to not only understand but also to evaluate risks for credit customers which assists in assessing credit applicants with higher accuracy," Tana said.

LINE BK’s strategy in 2023—the year which LINE BK focuses on efficient growth is to strive for an incremental one million users stemming from the three following service groups.

• Financial transaction services: More financial services will be integrated into LINE for more convenience. LINE BK will combine the strong points of LINE group chats with ease to develop new services, bringing the financial world and communication between friends and family closer.
• Loan services (Credit Line and Nano Credit Line): The aim is to unlock any financial restraints for all Thais with a focus on quality customers and increasing the credit ceiling for existing customers with good repayment records to inspire financial discipline among customers. New partnerships will be forged to co-provide credit and exchange information. Consequently, LINE BK will be able to rely on additional partnered data sources, engendering the assessment process to be easier and quicker. In the first quarter, LINE BK will announce a partnership with a company within the LINE ecosystem to co-provide a nano credit line for partner shops and sellers to increase their businesses’ cash flow and ensure smooth operation. In the initial stage, only a selected group of shops will be exclusively offered digital lending without document submission.  Later, the focus will be extended to other partner shops in the LINE ecosystem. Regarding existing partnerships with Aurora and Srisawad, LINE BK will continue to expand its customer bases in provinces across Thailand especially in Isan with Ble Patumrach as its new presenter. In 2023, it is estimated that LINE BK will incrementally offer its available credit approximately 5,000 million baht.
• Insurance services: Within the third quarter, LINE BK plans to officially launch life insurance brokerage service. LINE BK has been registered as a life insurance broker under the name of KASIKORN LINE Insurance Broker and granted permission from the Office of Insurance Commission. A system is being developed to allow customers to browse and pay for insurance products directly via LINE BK. The products that will be available via LINE BK will be affordable for all customers.    

“LINE BK strives for efficient growth this year through continuous development of all services. New and first-of-its-kind features will be introduced for financial transaction services. Regarding loan service, we continue to focus on quality customers while reaching out to more nano credit customers because it provides an opportunity for low-income earners to access a legal source of loan. Lastly, the insurance service group will provide a brand-new experience of buying insurance products via a one-stop outlet which is the LINE application. I believe that this year, Thai people will see the growth of LINE BK as Thailand’s first social banking provider through our various services. We also look for new opportunities to enhance our services to meet the needs of all customers in the future,” Tana concluded.