Other financial service needs expected by individual customers to be on the rise are the use of ATM and life assurance, while more uses of phone banking and Internet banking, provident fund management and cash management are expected by corporate customers. Unattractive aspects of financial institutions that drive customers away from using their financial services Although financial institutions, especially banks, are still the main financial service providers to consumers in Thailand, there are some aspects of their services considered not so user-friendly, such as: •  complicated procedures and long period of time for getting credit approved;  •  inconvenient access to the services;  •  inflexibility in the terms and conditions of repayment; and  •  the emphasis of banks on collateral instead of repayment ability. 2. Social aspects of retail banking sector  As you can see, these findings show that there are some gaps of the underserved to be filled in the financial sector, and retail banking is an area of potential growth. Moreover, we regulators believe that the consideration in retail banking sector extends above and beyond profit making for service providers and systemic stability because excess in this sector not only exacerbates a boom and bust cycle of credit, but also causes financial distress to over-leveraged consumers, triggering more social problems. Therefore, with profit-making comes responsibility - banks should be responsible for consumer education programs as well, disclosing information such as interest charges and fees of financial services.
Prior to issuing a policy, its final draft is sent out for comments from stakeholders both in and outside the Bank of Thailand, especially the industry, to avoid the problem of impracticality and minimize the cost of compliance on the part of financial institutions. Regulation and guidelines are also subject to regular review and revision to make sure that they are  4  BIS Review 22/2004  up to date and in tune with technological changes and market developments. To ensure that our supervisors competently meet these challenges, we have undertaken steps to enhance their supervisory capacity. The School for Examiners was established to provide training programs ranging from basic concepts of bank supervision to how to lead a team in bank examination based on risk-based supervision. Specifically, we are working to enhance quantitative skills necessary for comprehensive implementation of Basel II and financial engineering skills to keep pace with the developments of new financial products and package risks. To maintain stability: The prime concern shared by regulators of financial institutions is a stable financial system that is resilient to shocks and supports efficient allocation of resources in the real economy. One of the pitfalls of the retail banking market in Thailand before the Asian crisis was information asymmetry whereby creditors only had partial knowledge of their debtors’ financial indebtedness, including history of repayment. To address this weakness, two credit bureaus were set up so that banks can accurately assess the risk profile and repayment ability of a debtor.