News sources have revealed the names of the top contenders for the virtual bank licenses, with three major business groups from Thailand in the running:
1. SCB X: This group has partnered with two major players, WeBank, a leading digital bank in China, and KakaoBank, a giant in South Korea.
2. Krungthai Bank: In collaboration with key partners including AIS and the PTT Group through PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company Limited (OR).
3. Ascend Money: The provider of the TrueMoney e-wallet service, part of the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), partnering with Ant International, a fintech leader and a subsidiary of Alibaba from China.
These three groups are among the five companies that have officially applied for licenses with the BOT in the past period. The other two applicants are:
– C Group, formed through a collaboration of four partners, including Bangkok Bank (BBL), BTS Group Holdings, with its subsidiary VGI Global Media, Saha Group, and Thailand Post.
– Lightnet Group, led by Chatchaval Jiaravanon, in partnership with WeLab, a fintech leader in the Asia-Pacific region.
