Thailand embraces the ‘platform economy’

Thailand is witnessing the emergence of the so-called “platform economy”, as exemplified by Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and other leading banks currently undergoing the digital transformation process.
SCB, Kasikorn Bank, Bangkok Bank and Bank of Ayudya have been facing the disruptive force of digital and other technologies in a big way over the past few years. 
On one hand, they are confronting the competitiveness threats unleashed by the advent of e-commerce giants such as Alibaba of China and soon Amazon, whose business model extends beyond merely selling goods online to many other services, including money lending. On the other hand, traditional commercial banks in Thailand and elsewhere are witnessing the rise of financial startups that have the potential to upend the banks’ business model.
One tactic adopted by Thai banks is to get as many customers as possible switched over from physically visiting bank branches to using the banks’ new online and mobile platforms. SCB and Kbank have said several million of their customers are now using mobile-phone apps. As a result, they banks are planning to shut down some branches or turn them into centres handling the new services. To help accelerate this mass migration from in-person banking, no service fee is charged for money transfers and bill payments done via the mobile apps. They are, of course, subject to a fee if done at physical bank 
branches. 
Banks have also entered the era of Big Data, in which the mass of personal information accumulated about their customers becomes highly valuable, especially when analytic and artificial intelligence tools are applied to provide precise business intelligence on each individual customer’s spending habits and product-and-service preferences.
Banks, for example, have specific personal data on their customers’ spending behaviour every time payday comes around. Every 16th or 30th of the month, salaried employees generally cash their paycheque from work so they can make their rent or mortgage payment. Once that’s out of the way, most people spend money on dining out, groceries and other shopping. Given that there is now a vast volume of bank customers in Thailand using mobile apps, the platform economy is kicking off here.
On the SCB mobile apps, customers do all of the usual transactions anytime around the clock. They can apply for a speedy loan or a credit card or buy insurance, movie tickets or shop for a long list of products and services. Online shopping often also comes with a benefit – significant discounts. Banks have joined hands with a wide range of business partners and vendors to facilitate product-and-service transactions for a new generation of consumers.
Beyond financial services, these platforms have emerged as online matchmakers, similar to those hosted by Amazon, Airbnb, Baidu and Alibaba. According to sources cited by Wikipedia, the platform business model has been gaining traction ever since the 2008 global financial crisis, accounting for an ever-expanding share of global economic activity after having disrupted so many traditional businesses.
An Accenture survey showed that platform-based business models will likely be the core of business growth strategy in coming years. Proponents suggest the transformation will bring about higher productivity while reducing costs and removing inefficiency in existing markets or helping to create entirely new markets.
New models also give more flexibility and accessibility to workers, and less developed countries also benefit as much, while critics have suggested that the rise of platforms will worsen unemployment because they replace traditional jobs with new ones with less labour protection.