GHB Next Chapter Beyond Housing Bank
“My main objective is to figure out how to make homeownership easier for Thais in the changing economic context, using digital data and supporting the stability of the real estate sector by introducing…” "Generative AI, data, and digital transformation are enhancing operations in every dimension, while simultaneously preserving homes and driving a clearer role in supporting the country's real estate sector."
In a changing economic context, financial institutions are becoming more cautious in lending. The Government Housing Bank (GHB), under the leadership of... Dr. Mahatthana Ampornphisit, Managing Director of the Government Housing Bank (GHB). Ranked 15th, with the approval of the Minister of Finance and the Bank of Thailand (BOT), effective December 22, 2568, it marks a step into the "Next Chapter," a new role that goes beyond simply providing home loans – becoming a trusted partner in the home-related business.
Dr. Mahatthana Give a special interview bank finance He stated that during the first two months of taking office, he faced increasing challenges, including high levels of household debt, competition among financial institutions, and a multitude of economic factors. Therefore, the key question he set was how to ensure that Thais could not only own homes but also retain them.
“I grew up in the civil service because I wanted to do work that would create an impact on the country. Therefore, I took on the position of Managing Director of GHB because I see GHB as a specialized state financial institution that focuses on housing, which is a key engine of the economy. My main challenge is to figure out how to make it easier for Thai people to own homes and retain them, while simultaneously driving GHB's role in supporting the country's real estate sector more clearly.”
Beyond Housing Bank
Your trusted partner in home matters.
Dr. Mahatthana stated that GHB's key objective for 2569 is to become an organization that stabilizes the country's real estate sector and serves as a central hub in the housing infrastructure ecosystem.
Therefore, GHB is ready to expand its organizational role to Beyond Housing Bank, which is more than just a bank. It will not focus solely on providing home loans, but will be a trusted partner standing by customers from the very first day of home ownership. This involves transforming the organization into an Intelligent Sustainable Housing Companion by upgrading operations in all dimensions through 5 strategic pillars:
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- Pillar 1 Immediate-to-Home Get home instantly. Reduce the time and complexity of the home loan application process, from document preparation and submission to property appraisal, approval, and mortgage registration, all faster. We've developed technology to provide end-to-end customer service under the concept of Faster, Easier, Limitless.
- Pillar 2 Smart Growth Through Asset Quality Management, GHB (Government Housing Bank) manages assets to ensure quality growth and help more Thais own homes. This is achieved by utilizing digital, data-driven, and innovative technologies, including data analytics to provide targeted debt restructuring assistance and prevent non-performing loans (NPLs), and NPA (Non-Performing Asset) visualization systems to efficiently manage non-performing assets (NPAs).
- Pillar 3 Customer Obsession By gaining deep understanding and leveraging technology, banks can get to know their customers through data. This enables them to develop products and services that precisely meet customer needs through hyper-personalization, using Big Data and AI to analyze customer identities and deliver services that are "understanding, at the right place, at the right time," creating a better customer experience.
- Pillar 4 Digital Transformation Starting with a robust digital infrastructure, we'll modernize processes, streamline operations, and leverage automation and AI to enhance internal efficiency. This includes reviewing loan application documents, assessing risks, detecting suspicious transactions, and promptly suspending accounts, all while ensuring security. The goal is to reduce operating costs and create a competitive advantage.
- Pillar 5 people first Under the concept of Empowering People – Talented People, Strong Work, Sustainable Organization – we enhance employee happiness and potential to deliver a better customer experience. We focus on developing the organization from within, preparing people for the modern world through digital skills training, and fostering a warm and open corporate culture that empowers younger generations to lead various projects.
“The concept of Beyond Housing Bank stems from my belief that what truly keeps customers with us is doing more than just providing loans. We need to be a trusted partner in their housing journey, caring for them and growing together. This includes providing financial literacy education, preparing them for loan applications, and supporting them in maintaining their homes. Furthermore, as a state-owned bank with a specialized mission, we must be the central hub for all things housing. In the future, anyone thinking about buying a home should come to GHB.”
Powered by Date AI
Designing products that meet customer needs.
Dr. Mahatthana stated that GHB is ready to upgrade the organization with a Data-Driven Organization approach, utilizing existing large databases such as data from the Real Estate Information Center and market trend data from social media, analyzed from customer usage behavior regarding products and services. This, combined with data on customer needs and expectations, will be integrated with AI to help analyze data in order to create and recommend products that meet customer needs.
At the same time, digital, data-driven, and innovative solutions will be used to analyze and assist customers in restructuring their debts effectively, preventing NPL (Non-Performing Loan) problems. The NPA (Non-Performing Asset) visualization system will be used to manage NPA assets efficiently, such as developing in-depth management for SM (Small and Medium-Sized) and NPL (Non-Performing Loan) customer groups. A dashboard with predictive analysis will be used to prevent debt classification changes and effectively resolve bad debt issues.
This includes improving the sustainable management of NPLs (Non-Performing Loans) in order to sell the bank's NPA (Non-Performing Assets) in a more systematic and efficient manner.
Furthermore, GHB will utilize technology to further facilitate customers through an application that allows customers to accumulate points from using services and redeem them for benefits with various business partners. GHB is expanding this network further. GHB will act as an intermediary connecting customers to these partners, giving customers more opportunities and choices to access a wider range of products and services.
“In a market with rising loan rejection rates, GHB’s role has become clearer. We are stepping in to support these partners and jointly design financial services that meet customer needs, ensuring sustainable growth together.”
The Government Housing Bank (GHB) also has loan programs for those without regular income or self-employed individuals, as this group often faces limitations in accessing loans, particularly regarding income verification. To help this group access home loans more easily, the GHB has developed an Alternative Credit Scoring system to assist those without regular income or self-employed individuals in considering their applications, replacing the traditional income criterion.
“Currently, the Ministry of Finance is developing Ari-Score, which is a compilation of large amounts of public data. Therefore, in the future, Ari-Score may be integrated with the Government Housing Bank's (GHB) Credit Scoring system to make GHB's lending more accurate. Because right now, the challenge for all banks is to identify their strengths. With the technology we have and the relationships between our branch staff and our customers, we believe we can do it.”
Dr. Mahatthana further stated that although GHB is focusing on developing digital technology, services through branches remain important because the majority of GHB customers still primarily use branches for their services. However, GHB will utilize digital technology to further enhance convenience for its customers.
“GHB has a large number of products and services, so we will use digital technology to help design products that meet customer needs. In the future, we will be able to know exactly which products customers want so that branches can immediately offer them through our recommendation system. For example, designing installment plans that are suitable for each customer, similar to online shopping where the store recommends products that suit you.”
Currently, GHB has sufficient branch coverage to serve customers in every province. However, GHB will upgrade its digital channels to provide even more convenient and faster services. In the future, there may be GHB Mobile Projects that, in addition to educating the public, can also sell products to customers.
walk onThe role of state-owned banks.
Help support the economy through real estate.
Dr. Mahatthana stated that in 2568, even though the overall housing loan market is projected to contract by 5.8%, the overall market situation is showing signs of recovery on a quarter-by-quarter basis. This is a result of short-term economic stimulus measures (Quick Big Win) and measures supporting the real estate business, such as measures to reduce transfer and mortgage registration fees and relax loan-to-value (LTV) criteria. The Government Housing Bank (GHB) was able to disburse 247,241 million baht in loans, exceeding its target by approximately 5,000 million baht, which was originally set at 241,780 million baht.
"The reason we exceeded our loan disbursement target is because we believe that, in addition to helping Thais own homes, we must also support the housing market, which is a crucial sector for driving the Thai economy. As a state-owned bank, we want to play a small part in helping the economy recover from the crisis by accelerating loan disbursement to meet our target."
For 2569, overall housing loans are projected to contract by 0.6%. However, in line with GHB's mission to prevent loan declines, ensuring Thais have homeownership and supporting the economy, GHB aims to disburse loans of 242,989 million baht in 2569.
The Government Housing Bank (GHB) aims to support all Thais in owning their own homes. However, under its mission and legal mandate, GHB is assigned to serve customers, particularly those with low and middle incomes. By 2569, the goal is to ensure that low and middle-income earners account for at least 65% of the total loan portfolio. For entrepreneurs and the real estate sector, GHB is also ready to assist and support them through its loan products.
“In addition to fulfilling our mission, we also want to design our loan portfolio to be healthy and sustainable. Sustainability doesn't just apply to the bank; GHB must ensure the sustainability of all parties involved – stakeholders, customers, developers, employees, and the country's real estate sector as a whole.”
Changing the personnel at GHB (Government Housing Bank) from... Banker column
Towards becoming a trusted partner who understands our customers.
Dr. Mahatthana stated that one adjustment needed after assuming the position of Managing Director of GHB is to slow down, in order to maintain a pace that is appropriate for the organization and allows for simultaneous progress. However, he noted that it was a valuable opportunity, as his previous 15 years at the Ministry of Finance, during which he spent 10 years working with specialized state financial institutions, provided him with a deep understanding of their processes.
"I have worked in both the public and private sectors. The specialized state financial institutions are positioned in the middle of this, so we need to combine the best aspects of both: the prudence and systematic approach of the public sector with the agility and willingness to experiment (learning by doing) of the private sector, and apply them to benefit our organization."
Upon assuming the position of Managing Director of GHB, I aim to shift the mindset of GHB personnel from being mere bankers to becoming trusted partners who deeply understand their customers. This goes beyond simply putting customers at the center; it's about truly understanding their behavior and thoughts in order to retain them with GHB for the long term.
“I’ve been here for two months, and I’ve sensed that the people at GHB are open and receptive to new things, eager to learn, and committed to moving forward. They are highly skilled and familiar with home loans. However, we need to ensure our employees understand the new type of customer, their behavior, and what products are best suited to offer them. Customer-centric approaches may no longer be enough; it needs to be customer-obsession. We need to understand the mindset of our customers.”
Follow and read other columns in the March 2569 Bank Finance Journal, Issue 527, in digital format: https://goo.gl/U6OnIi
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