TCRB establishes Thai Credit Foundation called EMpower Created to empower Thai society and the grassroots economy through the promotion of financial literacy

As part of TCRB's "Everyone Matters" brand philosophy, the Bank believes it is essential to ensure that the underserved mum and pop entrepreneurs within the communities where TCRB is present should have be provided with opportunities to feel more empowered to take greater control of their financial decision-making and ultimately their lives.

Since 2017, over 100,000 people have taken part in TCRB's financial literacy courses. This year, TCRB is expanding its Corporate Social Responsibility efforts by establishing the Thai Credit Foundation named "EMpower".

In line with the TCRB's vision, the foundation's purpose is to support small and micro business entrepreneurs as well as underprivileged people in Thai society.

TCRB is confident that teaching financial literacy are key fundamentals for the development of families and people, making them more stable and increasing their quality of life. Typically, the smaller grassroots entrepreneurs in the wet markets may not have high academic backgrounds and do not learn how to maximise their businesses and their finances. TCRB provides a missing link so that participants bolster their financial understanding in order to make sound and knowledgeable decisions.

Ultimately, this will help reduce household debt which is considered a national problem. According to Bank of Thailand, Thailand household deb accounted for 88.2% of the country's GDP in the third quarter of 2022, compared with the ratio of 89.2% in the previous quarter. However, many Thai families, particularly people in low-income households have struggled with debt due to the inflation. This is reflected in steep rise in people opting for personal loan and credit card loan.

EMpower will strategically focus on three areas to strengthen its community for success including: relevant financial knowledge, simple and easy to understand content, and business enhancement and maximization. In addition to financial education, the EMpower program focuses on encouraging career development and generating more income as the Covid-19 pandemic has affected household finances. Taking a second job for supplement income is one way that can help people survive the pandemic.

"EMpower emphasizes the upper case 'E' and 'M', abbreviated from "Everyone Matters". The foundation EMpowers so that small entrepreneurs who are vital to Thailand's economy can make sound financial decisions navigating life without the fear and dangers of illegal lending sources.

Our EMployee will be able to volunteer to build the self-confidence and contribute to the society through the foundation," said TCRB's managing director Mr.Roy Agustinus Gunara.

In addition to enhancing financial knowledge and supporting education, the foundation also plans to promote and support communities to apply local wisdom, arts and culture for the creation of careers and higher income.

Furthermore, the foundation will collaborate with charitable organizations and public interest organizations to run social activities that bring benefits to the community or the society.

With the vision that places importance of promoting small business entrepreneurs, the bank has organized CSR activities based on principles to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including inclusive and equitable quality education, promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all, and inequality reduction, Mr.Roy added.

This year, the bank has expanded the Tang To Know-How courses to cover both permanent and temporary employees, freelancers as well as government officers and community leaders nationwide.

To rapidly broaden financial literacy across the region, TCRB has trained the managers of the bank's branches to be professional trainers and include the 265 TCRB branches nationwide to become the learning centers.

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