Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) launched its 12th SCB Investment Center at Chulalongkorn University's Sasin School of Management yesterday, with a plan to increase branches to 50 units next year.
The new centre is the first unit located on a university. The collaboration with the graduate school is supposed to help students have a better understanding of investment planning and other investment knowledge, said Salisa Hanpanich, executive vice-president of segment management at SCB.
SCB plans to open investment centres at other business schools in the future to attract young investors with wealth management services, said Ms Salisa.
With around 200-300 students, Sasin's collaboration with SCB will help develop a digital ecosystem in the school compound as both parties have set up Thailand's first cashless minimart, aiming to facilitate student learning about digital technology and develop a hands-on experience about a cashless society, she said.
Two more branch openings are planned outside university premises this year, taking the total to 14 by year-end, said Ms Salisa.
For investment centres launched this year, some 30,000 people have visited, exceeding the bank's initial expectation, she said.
SCB has around 1,700 investment consultants to service clients in the wealth management segment.
Competition between local commercial banks and foreign banks on wealth management business has been on the rise, said Ms Salisa.
Domestic banks have an edge in offering a full range of products and services, with a wider client base compared with their foreign counterparts, she said.
Foreign banks, however, have a global network offering international investment products and other alternative investment choices, said Ms Salisa.
SCB's wealth platform covers three customer groups comprising of SCB Private Banking, which includes customers with combined assets of 50 million baht; SCB First, where clients have combined assets worth 10-50 million; and SCB Prime, which is for customers with combined assets of 2-10 million.
