Collectius secures $581m to boosts Thailand’s loan portfolio

By Gloria Mathias

Collectius, the restructuring partner for financial institutions in Asia, has secured an additional $42 million (THB1.48 billion) in non-performing loans (NPL) in Thailand.

The deal, which includes a combination of credit cards and personal loans, extends the strong momentum of portfolio acquisition for Collectius since it was licensed by the Bank of Thailand (BoT) in 2016.

Collectius has purchased a total of $581 million worth of NPLs, serving over 700,000 customers in the country. Thailand’s household debt stands at 91% of the country’s gross domestic product, but there’s optimism as employment figures are increasing and the Government is reacting to better economic outlooks with plans to raise the minimum debt repayments from 5% to 8% in 2024 and to the usual 10% in 2025.

The Singapore-based FinTech is preparing to support more Thai customers on their journey to financial freedom by securing additional portfolios over the next 12 months.

Commenting on the transaction, Kian Foh Then, Group CEO at Collectius said, “This acquisition signifies our commitment to supporting Thailand’s financial ecosystem and empowering another 47,000 customers to become debt free. Our approach, backed by our partnerships and digital capabilities, ensures that we can service NPLs in a responsible and sustainable way.”

Furthering its regional footprint, Collectius recently acquired $2.5 million worth of NPLs through a deal with a pioneer digital bank in the Philippines. As a partner since their inception, Collectius has managed the bank’s end-to-end debt collection. As part of this partnership, Collectius will also be launching a pilot programme that will enable partner banks to seamlessly transfer future NPL cases for resolution.

Collectius continues to reinforce its position as the preferred partner for the sale of consumer NPLs in Southeast Asia, by employing technology and digital-led strategies to build additional servicing capacity.