The value of gross digital payments across the six largest ASEAN economies reached $806 billion in 2022, up 14 percent year on year, and is forecast to rise to close to $1.2 trillion by 2025. In Thailand, this growth is evident as the Thai fintech landscape is evolving rapidly, with the biggest trends being the acceleration of digital lending and the rise of embedded finance.
As consumers and businesses increasingly prefer seamless, all-in-one financial solutions, financial institutions are integrating lending capabilities directly into digital platforms. Moreover, digital identity verification and credit scoring solutions are gaining traction, driven by the need for more secure and efficient onboarding processes.
A smooth and efficient onboarding process has become a critical differentiator in the financial sector. Today’s consumers expect instant access to financial services, whether it’s opening a new bank account, applying for a loan, or securing a line of credit.
Lengthy paperwork, manual verification, and slow approval times no longer align with customer expectations.
The Digital Lending Advantage
As a result, financial institutions are increasingly turning to AI-powered document processing, biometric authentication, and automated Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions to streamline onboarding. For lenders, a faster and more frictionless onboarding experience directly translates into a competitive advantage.
By leveraging digital identity verification and alternative credit scoring methods, financial institutions can significantly reduce turnaround times—from days to mere minutes. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also increases conversion rates and reduces dropout rates during the application process.
Another critical factor in reducing turnaround time is minimizing unnecessary manual tasks in the loan origination process. Traditionally, loan approvals have involved extensive paperwork, manual data entry, and repeated verification steps, leading to delays and inefficiencies.
To address this, financial institutions are prioritizing automation—leveraging AI and machine learning to handle repetitive tasks such as document verification, income assessment, and fraud detection.
By integrating automated workflows into their loan origination systems, lenders can not only speed up approvals but also lower operational costs and reduce human errors.
Digital Onboarding
Furthermore, in an economy where the NPL rate for both personal and auto loans has been rising for the last four years, financial institutions must strike a balance between speed and risk management.
Strong credit scoring capabilities integrated with digital onboarding ensure that faster approvals do not come at the cost of increased defaults. By combining AI-driven risk assessments with real-time data analytics, lenders can make faster yet more informed lending decisions.
As embedded finance continues to gain momentum, seamless onboarding will be a key enabler for banks and non-banking financial institutions to expand their reach.
Whether through digital wallets, e-commerce platforms, or super apps, lenders must focus on delivering a hassle-free user experience that minimizes friction while maintaining regulatory compliance.
Those who can achieve this will set the standard for the next phase of Thailand’s fintech evolution. *Tselmeg Galtbayar is the Thailand Country Manager at AND Solutions
About AND Solutions
AND Solutions is a leading fintech company promoting financial inclusion across Southeast Asia with innovative technology solutions. Their flagship product, mindox, is an AI-based intelligent document processing solution that streamlines financial operations and decision-making processes. They aim to bring value to clients through increased efficiency, automation, and growth acceleration.
Key solutions include: mindox, an AI/ML and NLP-powered intelligent document processing launched in the Philippines in February 2024; Custom Credit Scoring, AI/ML-powered models for data-driven credit decisions; looms, an automated lending platform for consumer and business loans; and NIKO AutoML, a no-code platform for building machine learning models.
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Geoff Thomas is an award winning journalist known for his sharp insights and no-nonsense reporting style. Over the years he has worked for Reuters and the Canadian Press covering everything from political scandals to human interest stories. He brings a clear and direct approach to his work.
