Kasikornbank (KBank) has successfully implemented its early retirement (ER) programme and aims to reduce employee costs by 10-20% over five years as it increasingly adopts artificial intelligence (AI).
Kattiya Indaravijaya, chief executive of KBank, said the ER programme delivered the expected results and will help lower personnel expenses.
The bank continues to invest in information technology systems to support growing demand for digital banking and AI-driven services, she said.
Ms Kattiya did not disclose how many employees retired early. As of June this year, KBank employed about 18,300 staff.
The country’s third-largest lender by total assets, the bank recently introduced a one-time ER scheme open to employees 45 and older.
The voluntary programme was available from Aug 15 to Oct 7, targeting eligible applicants aged 45-59.
Chongrak Rattanapian, co-president of KBank, said the bank plans to continue to reduce both staff numbers and employee expenses by 10-20% over five years.
Traditional branches will continue to be slashed as more transactions are digital, he said.
In the first half of 2025, personnel expenses at the bank tallied 14.3 billion baht, up from 13.7 billion year-on-year. Personnel costs accounted for 51% of total operating expenses.
Mr Chongrak said the bank operates roughly 750 physical branches nationwide and plans to reduce this number by 10-20 branches a year, targeting around 700 outlets in a few years.
This reduction aligns with the decline in branch transactions and the strong growth of digital banking activities, he said.
“We aim to maintain our cost-to-income ratio in the low 40% range by controlling operating expenses and accelerating digital and AI adoption,” said Mr Chongrak.
As of June this year, KBank operated 749 branches nationwide, down from 756 year-on-year.
Branch numbers have steadily declined from 839 in 2021 to 824 in 2022, 808 in 2023 and 781 in 2024, according to KBank data.
During the first half of 2025, branch-based transactions accounted for only 0.3% of total banking transactions, down from 2% in 2021, while mobile banking transactions surged to 94.5%, up from 86% over the same period.
Meanwhile, the number of users of KBank’s K-Plus mobile banking app has risen steadily from 17.1 million in 2021 to 23.4 million in the first half of this year.
The bank wants to increase the number of K-Plus users to 23.9 million next year.