Financial firms look to Chinese New Year

CIMB Thai Bank has a new fixed-deposit campaign to welcome the upcoming chinese free new year cards New Year, offering an interest rate of 2.88 per cent per annum for an eight-month time deposit.

Senior executive vice president Adisorn Sermchaiwong yesterday said depositors could withdraw interest without waiting for the full maturity period. The minimum deposit required is Bt50,000.

The eight-month fixed deposit is an option for retired customers and those who prefer withdrawing interest for their daily spending, he said, adding that depositors can readily access details of the amount of interest they have accrued since the first day of their deposit.

"We have launched an attractive campaign, starting with the Chinese New Year, as we want to expand our customer base. We aim to get 2,000 to 3,000 new customers from the campaign," he said.

AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand), a leading credit-card and personal-loan provider, yesterday launched the "Gold Loan for Chinese New Year 14" promotion. The promotion will be available at all participating stores and will offer AEON cardholders an exclusive deal for gold purchases. For purchases of Bt19,000 or above, customers will be able to make repayments at a special interest rate of 0.99 per cent per month, within a six-, nine- or 12-month period of their choice.

The promotion runs until |February 28.

Meanwhile, Kasikornbank (KBank) and ICC International, a leading consumer-products company, are jointly offering special discounts for more than 60 brands at ICC's Brand Shops and ICC counters in branches of Central Department Store when spending via the co-branded His & Her - KBank credit card.

Thammarat Chokwatana, executive vice president of ICC International, said the company would also present an Ang Pao red envelope worth between Bt100 and Bt1,000 to shoppers who spend via their His & Her - KBank credit cards.

The promotion runs until |March 15.

Chatchai Payuhanaveechai, executive vice president of KBank, said the bank needed to launch special campaigns for its credit cards in order to drive spending during the current quarter.

Spending via its credit cards last month showed a year-on-year drop of 10-20 per cent, even though cardholders purchased Bt7 billion-worth of long-term funds and retirement mutual funds by credit card during the period, he said.