What made Ngern Tid Lor transform from a “finance shophouse” to a listed company that wins the hearts of customers in the vehicle title loan industry and rapidly expand into the insurance business?
Of course, behind this success are the strengths that set us apart from other competitors.
First, we must understand the meaning of Ngern Tid Lor. Piyasak Ukritnukun, Managing Director of Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited, has worked at the company since it was a finance shophouse in Pathum Thani Province with passion to be a part of transforming the vehicle title loan industry. He told us:
“Why Ngern Tid Lor? I found the answer to this question as I attempted to understand the economic structure of our country and observed the behavior of some consumer groups in society.
We have a saying: ‘Wealth is in the hands of the few while poverty is everywhere,’ meaning that the majority of people in Thailand have a low and irregular income. They are Ngern Tid Lor’s main customers, and include motorcycle taxi drivers, taxi drivers, and market vendors whose daily income may rise or drop depending on the weather, as well as small business owners and self-employed people who lack access to bank loans due to an unstable income.
Despite a low and irregular income, these people own cars or motorcycles, which are their tools for making a living. National statistics show that, while the Thailand population is estimated to have reached 67 million people, there are about 40 million registered vehicles and only 12 million people have access to credit cards and cash loans.
When we look at these two facts—that most people have no financial documents or salary slips, but they own pickup trucks, sedans, or motorcycles, we can understand why we named the company Ngern Tid Lor (money on wheels) and why the products designed to allow customers to exchange a vehicle title for money could help close the large gap in society where many people lack access to bank loans. Because these products help grassroots customers to get their hands on needed money for life roll forward while allowing them to continue using their vehicles to make a living, the vehicle title loan industry has been growing rapidly. There are over 15,000 vehicle title loan branches in this country, even more than bank branches.”
However, as Piyasak has revealed, the strength behind the success of Ngern Tid Lor is also built on our professional management team and common belief.
Piyasak told us that Ngern Tid Lor has changed from a family-run business to a professionally managed company and has operating in this way for more than 10 years, while our competitors and other local financiers remain family-operated.
“Ngern Tid Lor started to employ professionals to develop its systems more than 10 years ago. Our management bring in their knowledge and experiences from working with world-class organizations to improve company performance, enabling us to work faster and more efficiently. We’re able to process data to precisely identify branch locations and we have developed various platforms to support continuous growth, including the Tidlor Card and the Ngern Tid Lor application that make our customers’ lives easier and more convenient. We have also expanded our customer base by building a network of partners across the country.
More importantly, at Ngern Tid Lor we—including me, the management, and every employee—share a common belief that we can improve the quality of life of our grassroots customers by helping them to access transparent, fair, and standard financial sources and products, and the more people we help, the less economic inequality there is in the country.”
Our shared belief also provides a foundation for a strong corporate culture and clearly defined core values, which allow Ngern Tid Lor to screen and select like-minded people to work together to develop the organization and to grow together.
These are the key strengths behind our success in transforming from a local finance company to one that specializes in information technology and informed decision making, allowing us to manage risks effectively and become a newcomer that is growing rapidly in the insurance broker business.
Piyasak told us about the directions that will lead Ngern Tid Lor toward sustainable growth that:
“We have always focused on making informed decisions, and current information tells us that we can still open many more branches. In the next two-to-three years, we’ll be able to open 400-500 more branches without disruption, possibly more. Secondly, as we aim to become a technology company, we plan to implement a digital transformation.
We’ll also invest more in insurance business because Ngern Tid Lor is currently the number 3 insurance brokerage company in the country and we still have room to increase our market share. In addition, we’re the only insurance broker that allows customers to compare insurance premiums offered by 16 insurance companies through the platform that we developed. We plan to allow small brokers to purchase our platform, so that they can offer a comparison of insurance prices of all 16 companies and insurance premium installment payment with 0% interest like we do. This will help small brokerage companies to generate more revenue because we have no intention to vie for market share with small operators.”
Another important direction of Ngern Tid Lor is to expand our investment in foreign countries
“We are waiting for the right opportunity to expand investment abroad. Not only do we have technology readiness and supported platforms, we also have a superb corporate culture, which will attract the interest of leading companies in other countries. There are already many companies in neighboring countries, including credit and insurance companies, that want to partner with us.
However, we must stand firm on our intention and corporate culture. Companies that want to be our partners must be on the same page as we are, because no matter how eagerly we strive to develop new ways of working, the one thing that we will not change is our focus on services to and understanding of customers.”
This is how we grow from a finance shophouse to a listed company and continue to move toward sustainable growth.
Of course, behind this success are the strengths that set us apart from other competitors.
Success Comes from Understanding the Gap in Social Structure
As investors have been interested in TIDLOR shares since the first day of initial public offering (IPO), many people may not understand how TIDLOR shares are related to social structure.First, we must understand the meaning of Ngern Tid Lor. Piyasak Ukritnukun, Managing Director of Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited, has worked at the company since it was a finance shophouse in Pathum Thani Province with passion to be a part of transforming the vehicle title loan industry. He told us:
“Why Ngern Tid Lor? I found the answer to this question as I attempted to understand the economic structure of our country and observed the behavior of some consumer groups in society.
We have a saying: ‘Wealth is in the hands of the few while poverty is everywhere,’ meaning that the majority of people in Thailand have a low and irregular income. They are Ngern Tid Lor’s main customers, and include motorcycle taxi drivers, taxi drivers, and market vendors whose daily income may rise or drop depending on the weather, as well as small business owners and self-employed people who lack access to bank loans due to an unstable income.
Despite a low and irregular income, these people own cars or motorcycles, which are their tools for making a living. National statistics show that, while the Thailand population is estimated to have reached 67 million people, there are about 40 million registered vehicles and only 12 million people have access to credit cards and cash loans.
When we look at these two facts—that most people have no financial documents or salary slips, but they own pickup trucks, sedans, or motorcycles, we can understand why we named the company Ngern Tid Lor (money on wheels) and why the products designed to allow customers to exchange a vehicle title for money could help close the large gap in society where many people lack access to bank loans. Because these products help grassroots customers to get their hands on needed money for life roll forward while allowing them to continue using their vehicles to make a living, the vehicle title loan industry has been growing rapidly. There are over 15,000 vehicle title loan branches in this country, even more than bank branches.”
Our Professional Management Team and Common Belief
Most investors and the general public may think that Ngern Tid Lor’s strength lies in its digital technology development, which is far ahead of our competitors, leading the company to claim the title of number 1 in vehicle title loan portfolios in the country, with only 1,000 branches nationwide, beating our competitors who have more than 4,000-5,000 branches. Of course, this happens to be true!However, as Piyasak has revealed, the strength behind the success of Ngern Tid Lor is also built on our professional management team and common belief.
Piyasak told us that Ngern Tid Lor has changed from a family-run business to a professionally managed company and has operating in this way for more than 10 years, while our competitors and other local financiers remain family-operated.
“Ngern Tid Lor started to employ professionals to develop its systems more than 10 years ago. Our management bring in their knowledge and experiences from working with world-class organizations to improve company performance, enabling us to work faster and more efficiently. We’re able to process data to precisely identify branch locations and we have developed various platforms to support continuous growth, including the Tidlor Card and the Ngern Tid Lor application that make our customers’ lives easier and more convenient. We have also expanded our customer base by building a network of partners across the country.
More importantly, at Ngern Tid Lor we—including me, the management, and every employee—share a common belief that we can improve the quality of life of our grassroots customers by helping them to access transparent, fair, and standard financial sources and products, and the more people we help, the less economic inequality there is in the country.”
Our shared belief also provides a foundation for a strong corporate culture and clearly defined core values, which allow Ngern Tid Lor to screen and select like-minded people to work together to develop the organization and to grow together.
These are the key strengths behind our success in transforming from a local finance company to one that specializes in information technology and informed decision making, allowing us to manage risks effectively and become a newcomer that is growing rapidly in the insurance broker business.
Our Directions to Sustainable Growth
Today, Ngern Tid Lor is moving toward a larger goal to become a long-lasting organization that benefits and creates opportunities for more people.Piyasak told us about the directions that will lead Ngern Tid Lor toward sustainable growth that:
“We have always focused on making informed decisions, and current information tells us that we can still open many more branches. In the next two-to-three years, we’ll be able to open 400-500 more branches without disruption, possibly more. Secondly, as we aim to become a technology company, we plan to implement a digital transformation.
We’ll also invest more in insurance business because Ngern Tid Lor is currently the number 3 insurance brokerage company in the country and we still have room to increase our market share. In addition, we’re the only insurance broker that allows customers to compare insurance premiums offered by 16 insurance companies through the platform that we developed. We plan to allow small brokers to purchase our platform, so that they can offer a comparison of insurance prices of all 16 companies and insurance premium installment payment with 0% interest like we do. This will help small brokerage companies to generate more revenue because we have no intention to vie for market share with small operators.”
Another important direction of Ngern Tid Lor is to expand our investment in foreign countries
“We are waiting for the right opportunity to expand investment abroad. Not only do we have technology readiness and supported platforms, we also have a superb corporate culture, which will attract the interest of leading companies in other countries. There are already many companies in neighboring countries, including credit and insurance companies, that want to partner with us.
However, we must stand firm on our intention and corporate culture. Companies that want to be our partners must be on the same page as we are, because no matter how eagerly we strive to develop new ways of working, the one thing that we will not change is our focus on services to and understanding of customers.”
This is how we grow from a finance shophouse to a listed company and continue to move toward sustainable growth.