The Krungsri Anticipates Strong Recovery Driven by Gold and Global Assets
Marking its eightieth anniversary this year, Bank of Ayudhya PCL (Krungsri) is charting a bold, forward-looking course towards a future defined by deeply ingrained sustainability, accelerated digital innovation, and strong regional collaboration.
The bank’s recent celebratory event, titled “Krungsri 80th Anniversary: Sustainability Together, Thriving through Time,” served as both a tribute to its rich, storied legacy and a powerful reaffirmation of its unwavering commitment to growing in tandem with its customers, partners, and the entire nation in the pursuit of a sustainable future.
From its modest origins as a local Thai bank, Krungsri has undergone a dramatic evolution, transforming into a key, influential player within Asean’s financial ecosystem and establishing itself as a trusted platform for sustainable finance.
Its longstanding and pivotal partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), which is Japan’s largest financial institution, has been instrumental in strengthening its position and identity as “The Leading Sustainable and Regional Bank.”
Kenichi Yamato, president and chief executive of Krungsri, highlighted the bank’s exceptional resilience demonstrated through navigating multiple crises, including the profound disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He affirmed that these experiences have thoroughly prepared the bank to effectively meet present-day global challenges, which range from persistent geopolitical tensions to the increasingly urgent threat of climate change.
Strategic Pillars for Digital Transformation and Net Zero Ambition
Krungsri’s forward strategy is anchored by key strategic focus areas, emphasizing deeper collaboration, advanced AI-driven digital technology, and a clear, ambitious commitment to achieving Net Zero emissions across its operations and financial services.
Krungsri’s stated forward strategy centers on several core initiatives: strengthening its foundational core banking services, aggressively accelerating its comprehensive digital transformation, fostering a culture of continuous innovation, and diligently pursuing a clearly defined goal of achieving its Net Zero Vision.
This includes decarbonizing its own internal operations by the year 2030 and extending this commitment to its broader financial services by 2050.
The bank’s long-term strategy is strategically anchored in three primary focus areas that drive its decision-making.
The first is a deeper and continuous collaboration with MUFG, which uniquely enables Krungsri to deliver highly customized financial solutions and attractive investment opportunities to its clientele through the vast reach of MUFG’s extensive global network.
The second pillar involves the continued, robust development of artificial intelligence-driven technologies and advanced digital platforms.
These technological investments are critical for enhancing the overall customer experience, driving product innovation, and ensuring robust and proactive risk management systems across all business lines.
The third, and increasingly vital, focus area is a deep-seated commitment to sustainability, which includes a target to significantly grow its social and sustainable finance portfolio to an impressive 250 billion baht by 2030.
This holistic strategy is designed to ensure that Krungsri remains agile, technologically advanced, and fundamentally sustainable in a rapidly changing global market.
Resilience, Trust, and Commitment to Regional Growth
The foundation of Krungsri’s enduring success rests on its core values of resilience, client-centricity, and a people-first culture, reinforced by strategic global partnerships that facilitate regional expansion and trust.
In an exclusive interview with the Bangkok Post, Mr. Yamato meticulously described how Krungsri’s profound transformation was consciously shaped by its consistent focus on corporate resilience, an unwavering client-centric approach, and strategic global partnerships.
He highlighted critical past milestones, such as the 2007 merger with GE Capital’s consumer finance businesses and the landmark decision to join the MUFG network in 2013, as pivotal events that enabled the bank to successfully achieve massive scale while crucially retaining organizational agility.
These powerful partnerships have been essential in allowing Krungsri to deliver seamless, end-to-end financial services, ranging from complex cross-border trade finance to specialized sustainable investment advisory, both within Thailand and across the region.
The bank has also made a firm commitment to actively financing projects that are thoroughly aligned with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.
Furthermore, it systematically integrates ESG risk assessments directly into its credit evaluation processes and works closely with its corporate clients to guide them through their own sustainability transitions.
Mr. Yamato further emphasized that the importance of trust in the banking sector cannot be overstated, adding that true trust “cannot be built overnight.”
He stressed that “Consistency is essential. We have to be there for our customers, not only in good times but especially in difficult ones.”
Krungsri’s core values—including resilience, a global mindset, and a people-first culture—are what guide how the bank serves more than nineteen million customers across the broader region.
Looking forward, Mr. Yamato confirmed the bank’s focus remains firmly set on helping Thai enterprises successfully expand their operations internationally and on making a substantial contribution to the development of a greener, more inclusive economy across ASEAN.
