Page 12 - Crossroads: September 2015 | Issue 9

12
For internal use only
Crossroads
Brian Milton (fifth from right) and Americas colleagues Ivan Seda (center) and Bill Poppen (second from left) with members of the Krungsri credit card team who shared their expertise.
Collaborating with Krungsri
Union Bank reenters the credit card business with help from a friend
There’s a lot to learn about Krungsri, our Thai sister bank — beginning with the pronunciation and meaning of its name. Spoken in English more or less as kroong- see (oo as in book), the name is a combi- nation of krung (capital city or place where a capital city is located) and sri (honorable, great, or glorious).
Since BTMU announced its acquisition in late 2013, Krungsri has integrated into our global bank with support from the Americas and maintains a developing relationship with us. Americas executives participated in Krungsri’s onboarding and most recently held extensive conversa- tions with Krungsri colleagues about their sophisticated credit card business as we prepare to get back into card issuance, a business we exited in 1998.
Krungsri is the fifth-largest bank in Thailand (population ca. 67.5 million) in terms of assets, deposits, and loans. It offers a comprehensive range of univer- sal financial products and services to three key target groups: corporate, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and con- sumers. It has almost 22,000 employees and more than 650 branches and offices nationwide (as of June 30, 2015).
But don’t let “fifth-largest” mislead you. The company holds a prominent position in retail banking and the #1 position in its credit card market. The partnership with BTMU strengthens this position and significantly enhances the scale and diversity of Krungsri’s corporate and SME banking businesses, particularly with Japanese enterprises in Thailand and