Bloomberg: Thai business groups are bidding for virtual banking licenses

As Thailand's banks open applications, the country's largest commercial group, CP Group, and Gulf Energy Development are competing for the new virtual banking license. Chairman Suphachai Chearavanont said that True Corp Pcl, a telecommunications subsidiary of CP Group, and its partners including Ant Group are preparing to bid. Gulf Energy expects that obtaining a new virtual banking license will help accelerate its expansion into online businesses such as cryptocurrency trading and digital lending. Thailand may issue three or more such licenses to promote competition in the industry.