One of the largest banks in Thailand, Siam Commercial Bank announced yesterday that it plans to launch a hotel booking application next year that does not charge hospitality operators gross profit.
The bank announced that it would launch the “Zero GP OTA” app to help small and medium-sized hotel entrepreneurs reduce the costs of their online travel agency (OTA).
“The new platform will be rolled out early next year, when the Covid19 situation starts to wane and tourism picks up again,” SCB said in a statement.
The move comes after SCB, the country’s fourth-largest lender in terms of assets, announced a joint venture with Indonesian travel company Traveloka last month to provide financial services to Thai customers.
Several Thai banks have invested in new digital technologies and services as they face increasing competition from financial technology and payment start-ups such as ride-hailer Grab.
SCB’s “Zero GP OTA” will build on its food delivery service Robinhood, launched last year amid a surge in demand for food deliveries following the pandemic.
Robin Hood has contracts with 90,000 merchants and 15,000 deliverers, according to the SCB.
“The platform and support of more than a million Robinhood users will help hoteliers,” said Thana Thienachariya, president of Purple Ventures, the bank’s e-marketplace unit.
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