Krungsri Launches JCB Ultimate Card for High‑Income Japan Travelers
Krungsri Consumer has launched the Krungsri JCB Ultimate credit card to capture high‑income Thai consumers who favor travel to Japan and Japanese lifestyle, partnering with JCB to stimulate spending amid a volatile credit‑card market. The card offers five‑times reward points on yen purchases, dining and shopping perks, and the bank targets 20,000 new accounts and 1.5 billion baht in transaction volume by 2027. Executives said they expect the credit‑card business to grow 2–3 percent this year, outperforming the Bank of Thailand’s forecast, provided flood impacts remain limited.
Krungsri Consumer said it aims for credit‑card growth of 2–3 percent this year, while the Bank of Thailand forecasts 1–2 percent growth, and expects non‑performing loans to remain stable thanks to an 8 percent minimum payment ratio. Somwang Hotrakul, managing director of Krungsri Card Ayutthaya Ltd, added that credit‑card spending on travel continues to rise both domestically and abroad, with Japan remaining the top destination for Thai tourists. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 1.23 million Thais visited Japan in 2025, up 7.3 percent from the previous year, and 70 percent of those travelers had been to Japan more than twice; from January to May 2026 the figure was 650,000, with a full‑year projection of 1.32 million. Data from Krungsri card usage between January and August 2026 showed Japan as the most‑visited country for cardholders, followed by the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Hong Kong, with spending in Japan totalling 1.2 billion baht – 25 percent of all overseas card expenditure. Krungsri defined the target group as the "Jeneration" and designed the Krungsri JCB Ultimate card to match their habits, offering five‑times Krungsri points on yen‑denominated purchases in Japan, dining rewards at restaurants worldwide, and shopping benefits at leading Japanese brand partners in Thailand under the concept "Japan Everyday, Everywhere – Fill happiness, full style, anytime, anywhere." Somwang Hotrakul said the bank hopes to secure 20,000 new card accounts and achieve 1.5 billion baht in spending on the Krungsri JCB Ultimate card by 2027.
