Thailand Uses AI Sales Tool to Unlock Microfinance Loans
Thailand is leveraging AI sales tracking in the Tung Ngen app to help small merchants qualify for Government Savings Bank loans, using their documented business data as loan documentation. The initiative aims to provide microfinance access
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nithithanphasiprach has revealed plans to use sales data from the AI-powered Chirp feature in the Tung Ngen mobile app as supporting documentation for small merchants seeking bank loans. He stated that discussions have been held with Government Savings Bank Governor Songpol Chiwapanjarojon, and the bank has been tasked with developing a framework to support the initiative.
The credit facility will draw on the Government Savings Bank's own lending capacity and will not be linked to the government's 400-billion-baht energy crisis and transition loan program. Ekniti explained that the government is pushing adoption of the Chirp AI feature in Tung Ngen because it delivers multiple benefits: it enables small traders to keep sales records, summarize and analyze daily and monthly sales data, improve business management, and most importantly, serve as a tool for accessing formal credit through the Government Savings Bank.
With the Thailand Helps Thailand Plus program set to expire within the next few months, the government wants the Chirp AI feature to move beyond record-keeping and create real-world use cases where merchants can use their compiled sales data as evidence to apply for loans from the Government Savings Bank. The bank's director has been instructed to expedite the development of the supporting framework.
