The bank has marked 12 months of wealth management in Thailand by launching a digital platform in the country, its third in Asia-Pacific.

Credit Suisse has launched its digital wealth management platform for Thai clients, coinciding with the first anniversary of setting up wealth operations in the Asia nation. The Swiss bank said growth in its Thai wealth business has been rapid over the past 12 months.

The platform, accessed through the Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia-Pacific app, gives clients, the bank said, 24/7 access to information about their accounts, market insights and intelligence relevant to their portfolios, and supports them with trading
tools for more than 30 bourses.

Clients can use the platform on iPads, iPhones,web browsers and devices using the Google Android.

“Thailand is the third rollout location in Asia of our Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia Pacific app, following Singapore and Hong Kong. Thailand is one of the fastest growing markets for our regional wealth management business as well as for consumer adoption of digital financial services solutions," Benjamin Cavalli, Credit Suisse’s Head of Private Banking Southeast Asia, said.

"We are confident that our clients in Thailand will welcome and quickly adopt this additional digital wealth management channel as our clients had across the region. During 2016, the number of clients using the App increased by more than six times, on average they log in more than eight times a month, spending more than 10 minutes per login session, with the most active user logging in more than 100 times a month. The volume of equity transactions placed by clients via the digital platform have also increased more than eight times, and in some instances, more than half of the total equity trades were placed by clients via the app, as compared to via email or phone,” Cavalli said.

According to a RBC/Capgemini survey issued in 2014, some 82 per cent of high net-worth individuals in Asia-Pacific expect their wealth management relationship to be conducted entirely or mostly through digital channels, while 83 per cent of them said that they are far more likely to leave wealth management firms that cannot offer an integrated digital and direct channel experience.

It was notable that when the lender launched its mobile private banking platform, it chose to do so not in its home country of Switzerland, but in Singapore, highlighting how it views Asia as the hottest and most tech-friendly market.

In May last year, the Zurich-listed bank, which has made Asia a priority region for its growth strategy, set up a local team of investment planners in Thailand, working via its securities entity, Credit Suisse Securities, operating out of Bangkok.

In October, Credit Suisse appointed Thippa Praneeprachachon, a veteran with more than 30 years’ experience in the Asian wealth management industry, as head of wealth management for Thailand. The team is supported by more than 200 specialists in its regional hub in Singapore.

The bank's wealth management offering targets two client segments which the bank defines as high-net worth individuals with more than $2 million (THB 69 million) in assets under management, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNW) with USD 50 million (THB 1.7 billion) in AuM or $250 million (THB 8.6 billion) in net wealth, who are mostly first or second generation entrepreneurs with family-owned businesses.

“In the past year, we have recorded strong growth of our new Thailand wealth management business, with number of clients’ accounts increasing five-fold and assets under management growing ten-fold," Urs Grueter, Credit Suisse’s market group head for Thailand and Vietnam for Private Banking, said.