No Fixed Celebration
More than half-a-million customers signed up for TMB No Fixed since its launch last year. The innovative aspect of the No Fixed product was the fact that customers have the flexibility to make emergency withdrawals while enjoying higher interest rates. To celebrate the success, TMB has decided to extend an invitation to those who have not yet enjoyed the benefits of No Fixed by offering a 3% interest rate for a two month period. Customers who already have a No Fixed Deposit account will be given a 3% interest rate above their existing balance recorded as of 31 May. The 3% interest rate for both new and existing customer promotions are for deposits under THB 10 million. The celebration starts as of 1 June and will last only until 31 July.
“TMB developed the No Fixed Deposit based on customer feedback”, says Kanchana Rojvatunyu, TMB’s Head of Retail Marketing. “Customers wanted to enjoy the higher interest that a term deposit yielded whilst having the flexibility to make a withdrawal from the account should an emergency arise. The customer reaction for this product has been overwhelming so TMB wanted to celebrate by inviting others to enjoy the benefits as well.”
Send to Save service
TMB Send to Save service, available within June 2012, allows individuals to pre-determine the amount of money they want to keep on-hand in their transactional savings account in order to make their monthly transactions. If the cash in-flow into their account exceeds the pre-determined threshold, TMB will automatically notify the customer about the amount of excess money in their account by way of text message, along with providing an option for the customer to transfer the excess—via their mobile phone—into their No Fixed Deposit account in order to enjoy a higher interest rate.
“Over 90% of customers divide their transactional savings accounts to be separate from their longer term deposit accounts in order to better manage their money”, says Kanchana. “We found that customers want to maintain a certain amount of liquidity for their monthly transactional activities while putting excess money into an investment account that earns higher interest rates. TMB Send to Save service allow customers to manage their money through a simple text message on their mobile phones.”
Empowering Customers through Efficient Transactional Banking and Flexible Savings and Investment Accounts
Mr. Boontuck Wungcharoen, TMB CEO said: "Over the last four years, TMB has focused on empowering its customers by leveraging its brand statement of ‘Make THE Difference. We have been committed to developing financial products which challenge the banking industry status quo in order to serve the unmet need of customers and create real benefits for them. Today, we’re launching the No Fixed celebration because this product is a strong proof of such commitment of TMB. The No Fixed product has created a paradigm shift in the industry which had held on to the old belief in ‘fixed term’ for 60 years. No Fixed has created a strong market impact and been well received by consumers, with 600,000 accounts in just one year.
“Today TMB has taken another step forward by empowering customers to select their own choices of a mix of deposit products which both meet their different needs and create maximum benefits for each individual. We have clearly developed and categorize the plain traditional deposit products into two groups. The first one is ‘Transactional Account’ for the purpose of carrying out routine transaction. The dominant characteristics of this account are simplicity, convenience, and low transaction fee while the interest rate is not high. The latter one is ‘Savings and Investment Account’ which provides high interest rate with flexibility of withdrawal when need be. This type of account also provide customers with ore convenience with a liquidity management service or ‘Send to Save’ so that they will not have to leave too much money in their transactional account and gain more interest for the money transferred into Savings and Investment Account through the ‘Send to Save’ order via mobile phone. “
From 7 June onwards, the Bank will adjust interest rates for its saving deposit, which is a member of the Transactional Account group, from 0.375% per year to 0.125% per year. At the same time, the No Fixed deposit, which is under the Savings and Investment Account group, will offer higher interest rate for new money and new account from 2.25% per year to 3% per year during the No Fixed celebration period. The “Send to Save” service will be also available. In addition, the Bank is planning to introduce a new concept of account for business on 11 June this year.