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Executive Column: Being a small bank makes no sense, says KBank
Bank Maspion president commissioner Chat Luangarpa, who also serves as executive vice president of Kasikorbank (KBank), explains why the Bangkok-based lender acquired the local bank and how it aims to triumph in Indonesia’s competitive banking landscape.
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Chat Luangarpa, president commissioner of Bank Maspion, which was acquired by Thaiand's Kasikornbank in 2022. (Bank Maspion/-)
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hailand’s Kasikornbank (KBank) entered the Indonesian market by acquiring a 67.5 percent stake in Bank Maspion in December 2022 and increased its ownership to 84.6 percent a year later. The local subsidiary aims to become one of Indonesia’s top 15 banks by 2027.
Chat Luangarpa, president commissioner of Bank Maspion and executive vice president of KBank, spoke to The Jakarta Post’s Aditya Hadi in an exclusive interview about the bank’s strategy to navigate Indonesia’s competitive banking landscape and outlined the firm’s priorities for 2025, including plans to expand its loan portfolio to the commercial sector and lower the cost of funds.
Question: How does your entry into Indonesia differ from your approach to other markets?
Answer: Indonesia is the only place we [entered through] the merger and acquisition [route]. In other countries, such as China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, we typically apply for a new license to operate.
Indonesia already has many banks, so issuing a new banking license would not make much sense to the government.
This approach means we do not need to build everything from scratch, as we do in other countries. Instead, we can leverage the knowledge and capabilities that we have in Thailand to expand more quickly.
How do you boost your growth in the early days?
