The service is expected to reduce operating cost by 30%. This capital will be used for further technology development to improve financial services.
Moreover, the quality of unsecured loans applied for online is expected to be better than through traditional channels because online applicants have real demand and have done product comparison before submitting applications, he said.
"We expect non-performing loans derived from online applications will be lower than the traditional channel by half. Online applications will represent marginally around 5% of total unsecured loan applications in the initial phase," said Mr Thakorn.
Online loan application will follow the same process as the traditional channel, requiring the personal information of each applicant, credit record checks by the National Credit Bureau and loan analysis. But the online channel will be a digital-based process and approval should take around 30 minutes, compared with several days for the traditional channel.
He said online application will be extended to BAY's secured loan products in the next phase.
In related news, the bank's board of directors approved a venture capital fund with registered capital of US$30 million to invest in financial technology startups that develop new digital banking products and services. The new company, pending Bank of Thailand approval, is expected to be set up this year.