UOB Thailand has decided to waive interest and fees for credit cardholders who were impacted by the bank’s payment apportionment system. Yuttachai Teyarachakul, the head of personal financial services at the bank, confirmed the completion of interest and fee waivers for affected cardholders following the transition of the credit card business from Citi Thailand to UOB Thailand.
The previous payment apportionment system automatically distributed payments across all cards if a cardholder had multiple credit cards and paid the full amount on one card. This resulted in customers being pushed into making minimum payments and incurring interest charges.
To address these issues, UOB Thailand plans to abolish the payment apportionment system this month. Additionally, customers will soon have the option to choose their bill payment due dates and select between full or revolving payments, with these changes expected to be implemented in July.
With the completion of the business transition on April 21, UOB Thailand faced challenges with its TMRW mobile banking app and call centre services for credit card clients. In response to the increased call volumes, the bank has ramped up its call centre staff from 500 to 1,500, with the staff divided into three teams to handle specific issues related to payment apportionment, the TMRW app, and bill statements.
Approximately 1.2 million former Citi cardholders have transitioned to UOB Thailand, with 90% successfully migrating to TMRW. The bank assured customers that their data remains secure and uncompromised.
Although there was a 20% decline in credit card spending year-on-year in April due to the business transition, UOB Thailand has seen a recovery in spending, with double-digit growth recorded in the first half of 2024. The bank anticipates further improvement in credit card spending in the second half of the year as economic conditions stabilize and seasonal factors come into play, with credit card operations expected to normalize during this period.
