Page 14 - Crossroads: September 2015 | Issue 9

Krungsri logo. The roof peaks represent the outline of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, a historic site and official symbol of Ayudhya Province.
Expectations
The target audience for Union Bank’s new card is all Consumer, Priority, Private, and Wealth customers. “By offering our own credit card, we will enhance and strengthen customer relationships through all levels and segments,” says Brian. “Our Private Bankers and Wealth Management colleagues especially want a prestigious card that will appeal to their most valuable bank deposit relationship customers.”
This important product has strategic advantages. Credit card customers demonstrate a much lower attrition rate than non-cardholders, a much higher level of penetration with investments and loans, and greater engagement with bill pay and direct deposit. Direct control of the program will enable underwriting and product selection that considers a customer’s full banking relationship, as well as a more integrated rewards pro- gram that better ties the credit card to deposits, mortgages and loans, invest- ments, and more. In addition, peripheral products such as cash reserve and small business lending will realize efficiencies and synergies from the program.
During the year preceding the projected 2016 launch of the new credit card, Brian’s team and their partners in risk management, marketing, sales, finance, Integrated Services, Bank Operations, Consumer Lending, and others are developing internal policies and strate- gies regarding every detail of the product itself, as well as credit and underwriting requirements. They also will establish clear, detailed rules for the payment technology solutions company, First Data, that will process the credit transactions, enabling us to compete more efficiently in the market and without in-house operational complexity.
“The credit card business is ideal for us at this stage of our company’s growth,” says Brian. “It expands our product portfolio, enhances cross-sell opportuni- ties, grows our consumer assets, and gives our customers more solutions and flexibility. We owe a great debt of grati- tude to our friends and colleagues at Krungsri for helping to make the entire process so productive.”
About Krungsri
Krungsri is the market identity of its formal name, the Bank of Ayudhya, whose first branch was established in Ayudhya Province in 1945. The province was the capital of Thailand in the four- teenth century and was known then as Krungsri Ayudhya. Krung means capital city or the place where a capital city is located. In Thai, the bank’s name is Thanakan Krunsgri Ayudhya, with thanakan meaning bank, and honors its place of origin. While both Krungsri and Ayudhya exist in the Thai name, Krungsri was adopted as the main identifier in 2011 and incorporated into the bank’s rede- signed logo.
Thai glossary
Khun: Honorific preceding names, such as Khun Nori Goto, Khun Pierre Habis, Khun Annemieke van der Werff.
Wat: Buddhist sacred precinct or place of worship.
Bangkok: The origin of this word is unclear. One theory speculates that it derives from bang (a village situated on a stream) + ko (island). The city was settled on the bank of the Chao Phraya River in an area laced with waterways. CR
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Crossroads
Wat Phra Si Sanphet in Ayudhya Province.