Thailand’s vehicle sales have remained below pre-COVID levels in recent years, while demand has shifted toward electric vehicles (EVs). Competition from original equipment manufacturer (OEM) financing arms and digital-first distribution channels is also forcing lenders to reconsider growth strategies beyond loan origination. With vehicle sales under pressure, lenders are focusing more on pricing, distribution efficiency and revenue from existing customers than on loan growth alone. The shift is both cyclical and structural. EV adoption, changing dealer economics and stronger price competition, particularly from Chinese OEMs, are changing financing demand and squeezing margins. Lenders are responding by linking origination, credit assessment and servicing more closely. Within this context, Tirachart Chiracharasporn, managing director of KLeasing, discussed how the firm is using KBank’s wider ecosystem to strengthen distribution and underwriting and retain customers through servicing and refinancing. KLeasing uses KBank’s ecosystem to integrate distribution A defining feature of KLeasing's operating model is its ability to leverage KBank's wider ecosystem. This gives it access to SME and retail customers, shared relationship management and distribution across physical and digital channels. Tirachart said this integration works through a single relationship manager and underwriting platform. It allows KLeasing to offer a more consistent customer journey while simplifying underwriting. The model is intended to reduce friction between origination channels by bringing leads from dealers and digital platforms into a common process. It also links credit decisions more closely to customers’ existing banking relationships instead of treating each loan as a standalone application. The integration extends across dealer networks, digital platforms and KBank’s mobile channels, reducing fragmentation across acquisition channels. EV financing changes KLeasing’s portfolio risk One of the main shifts in KLeasing’s portfolio is its increased exposure to EV financing. This reallocates credit exposure toward a segment with different depreciation patterns, pricing volatility and customer behaviour. KLeasing sees EV financing as closely aligned with its online origination channels and digital financial services. It has also linked its position in EV financing to portfolio quality. According to KLeasing, its EV portfolio has different risk characteristics from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle financing and has recorded better vintage performance than its ICE portfolio. The firm said its credit assessment draws on more detailed scoring and data from the wider KBank ecosystem. EV financing therefore offers KLeasing more than a new source of loan growth. It may also help KLeasing refine its underwriting and longer-term risk models as the EV portfolio develops. Digital platforms bring financing into vehicle selection KLeasing is restructuring its origination process around digital channels. KLeasing uses platforms such as K EV Shop and K OK to reach customers across the awareness, consideration and application stages, bringing financing into earlier stages of vehicle selection. However, the more important shift concerns customer behaviour and adoption. As Tirachart emphasised, the main challenge lies in applying the technology in ways that customers will use: “The technical challenge is not the technique, it’s how do we put this technology to serve our customers.” This shifts the focus of digital transformation from building infrastructure to designing the customer experience. Alongside system integration, the challenge is to provide a simple and consistent journey that encourages customers to complete more of the process digitally. Digital servicing supports retention and additional revenue Beyond origination, KLeasing is placing greater emphasis on servicing by moving customer interactions to digital channels such as LINE OA, automating payment and service requests and expanding self-service options. KLeasing expects these changes to reduce servicing costs and support customer engagement throughout the loan term. They also create opportunities to offer products such as insurance renewals, refinancing and top-up loans. Servicing is therefore moving beyond reactive customer support to become a more active part of KLeasing’s customer retention and revenue strategy. Digital origination improves profitability and efficiency A key outcome of KLeasing’s transformation is the profitability gap between its digital and traditional channels. The firm reported higher profitability among digitally acquired customers, which it linked to lower acquisition costs, better credit quality, higher sales productivity and more efficient operations. KLeasing expects wider digital adoption to lower origination costs and increase the value generated from each customer, supporting both distribution and margins. Its transformation reflects some of the wider pressures facing auto lenders in Southeast Asia. As vehicle demand weakens and electrification changes product economics, lenders are moving beyond loan origination toward models that connect distribution, credit assessment and servicing. KLeasing is doing more than digitising its existing lending model. It is placing auto finance within the wider KBank ecosystem, using shared data, distribution channels and servicing to generate value beyond the initial loan. Its trajectory suggests that future competition in auto finance will depend on more than lending capacity. The ability to connect customers, dealer networks and banking services may become an increasingly important source of advantage.
