Siam Commercial offers income tax payments through credit card

The service will ease payment of SME owners and will allow the lender to expand customer base and product cross-selling.

Siam Commercial Bank is appealing to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to pay their income taxes via its credit card because it will not carry a fee.

In addition, civil servants are the bank's new target group to expand its customer base amid higher competition in the card market.

Araya Phuphanich, an executive vice-president, said tax payment via credit card ensures the Revenue Department gets its money and is convenient for taxpayers. The service is expected to be available this year.

SCB will offer a grace period of up to 51 days and some customers can opt for tax installments over up to 10 months with the bank's instalment programme.

''Entrepreneurs can pay both individual and corporate tax, which will allow both customer base expansion [for the bank] and product cross-selling. The bank is also searching for other partnerships in the government sector,'' she said.

SCB, the country's fourth-largest bank by asset size, aims to maintain market leadership in credit card payment. The bank's total credit card spending was 140 billion baht ($3.34 billion) last year and it has a target of 160 billion this year. Most card spending comes from clients who earn a minimum of 30,000 baht ($1,003) per month. This segment represents around 60% of the bank's total cardholders.

View the full story in Bangkok Post.