Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has set its sights on the self-employed for its housing loans this year to offset shrinking demand in other segments.
The SET-listed bank at a minimum seeks to keep new loans on par with last year. Although new residential project development is expected to grow slightly by 5% this year, for new mortgages the industry might at best see zero growth, first executive vice-president Pikun Srimahunt said.
Mrs Pikun said this year could see home purchases with cash increase to 60% of all new residential projects.
Normally, mortgages outpace cash purchases, but a lowered loan approval rate has prompted consumers to buy more homes outright than in the past.
Stricter loan conditions from banks have been in line with the current economic circumstances, she said, though only high-income earners such as business owners can shell out a large amount of cash to buy a home.
SCB plans to focus on this group, who belong to the self-employed segment. It will subsequently have to tailor its mortgage loan offers to suit this bracket.
Mrs Pikun said a part of self-employed homebuyers do not need to borrow from banks, so SCB will have to use a different approach and offer other financial service or solutions, such as product cross-selling.
"Despite the fact that we target zero growth for new mortgage loans this year, other areas should be able to grow," she said. "We still target revenue growth from non-financial solutions. Transactional banking services could particularly be a key area contributing to revenue."
SCB projects to extend new housing loans of 115 billion baht in 2016, on par with last year.
If it can attract new loan customers as planned, its mortgage loan portfolio will increase to 600 billion baht this year, a 5.26% increase from 570 billion in 2015.
SCB shares closed on the SET on Friday at 130 baht, up one baht, in heavy trade worth 1.63 billion baht.