“Ngern Tidlor” had a clear brand purpose from the onset; to create financial opportunities for low-income or self-employed groups, most of whom are classified as “underbanked”, lacking access to financial services from the banking system. In the past, products offered included loans with car registrations as collateral, and other insurance products offered as a broker with the aim of assisting people and providing convenient access to insurance to mitigate and safeguard against potential expenses related to property, health, or life should the unexpected occur. This means that
"Life Rolls Forward" for customer groups, according to the slogan and brand concept.
In 2012, an incident occurred that shifted the “Ngern Tidlor” paradigm; solutions to financial problems alone were not leading to a sustainable solution. After the brief pilot launch of the
"Wet Market Loans" service for market vendors, Ngern Tidlor realized that the major problem was a lack of basic financial knowledge among a group of merchants. This is the root cause of most chronic financial problems.
Ms. Nipa Vanichwat, Senior Executive, Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Division at
Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited or
TIDLOR, said, “The wet market vendors do not only lack the opportunities to access financial services from the banking system, they also lack fundamental financial knowledge and understanding. Therefore, we believe that by providing basic financial knowledge and opportunities, we will enable them to plan their finances to ensure a stable livelihood, solve debt problems, and help reduce potential future financial problems.” This marked the start of the project,
“Financial Education”. In 2012, we launched a pilot project with a group of merchants. Then we expanded to the community, our own employees, factory workers, and other joint projects with many agencies.
We invite employees to volunteer and participate, to help them understand the problems in the community. The program involves assessing the problems, organizing activities, and following up on results. Later, it was extended into 6 modules to promote financial knowledge in the community;
1. Things to know before borrowing money and learning the source of funds.
2. How to survive the interest rates battlefield.
3. Save and grow your money.
4. Spending your money wisely.
5. Know your costs and increase your profits.
6. Managing your cash flow.
Additionally, knowledge of the importance of insurance is included throughout. All courses are organized through activity-based learning so participants can enjoy learning content which is easy to understand. Over 203 sessions have been organized covering all types of activities, involving over 5,600 participants and over 930 volunteers. At present, the project is operating and continuing to progress.
Moreover, under the aim of creating opportunities for improving knowledge, Ngern Tidlor also supports basic education. In the past, we have supported the
“Teach for Thailand Foundation” and other educational support organizations to promote and contribute to the knowledge base of youth and further enable students to reach their highest potential. These efforts also helped reduce disparity within education and to support people to realize a higher educational foundation. This is vital in creating opportunities for better livelihood.
On the social side, Ngern Tidlor has also organized the
"Debt or Happiness" campaign to help remind people in society to be conscious and mindful about spending money or creating debt that does not benefit them.
On the environmental side, Ngern Tidlor's business model is characterized by financial services and insurance brokerage services. While the business operation does not directly cause a major carbon footprint or increase greenhouse gas emissions, Ngern Tidlor does not neglect environmental conservation. Our employees have been encouraged to participate in environmental conservation, reforestation, building check dams, and saving energy, including proper management of electronic waste which we continue to practice.
For over 10 years, we have continued to convey our solid intentions to create sustainable opportunities that provide knowledge and support people to have a better life through a range of projects and activities. As a result, various leading agencies now realize the importance of creating opportunities for knowledge. Ngern Tidlor has been recognized as
a case study by The Center for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP) by Temasek Trust, an organization in Thailand that implements social sustainability projects under the United Nations SDGs Goals concept. It covers social improvements in five perspectives: Poverty and Inequalities Reduction, Quality Learning Opportunities Promotion, Decent Work and Economic Growth Promotion, and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Development both domestically and internationally. This is another recognition that Ngern Tidlor is proud of.
In summary, Ms. Nipa states, “At Ngern Tidlor, we are adept with financial matters. We apply knowledge and experience to generate value for society and Create Shared Value (CSV) through various projects. We aim to create opportunities for basic financial knowledge among communities and various groups. We continue to support education for underprivileged youth. We do believe that this is vital in creating opportunities that enables the grassroots to grow in a sustainable way, according to our intentions.
We see the 17 SDGs Goals as key to sustainable global development. These goals should be implemented by all agencies to benefit from the expertise of each organization. Let's extend the results to sustainability in specific areas of expertise and merge like a jigsaw puzzle on a national level. When it comes to the big picture, all 17SDGs Goals for Thailand will be complete and sustainable.”
Source: BrandAge