Abstract:
The objectives of this study were 1) to examine the factors affecting the adaptation of commercial banks in the digital age and 2) to find out methods to adapt commercial banks in the digital age. This qualitative research used in-depth interview methodology to collect data by using three sample groups, which are executives from commercial and government banks, employees working in commercial and government banks, and customers using services of commercial and government banks. Each sample group contained six people. The results of the study revealed that external factors affected the adaptation of commercial banks in the digital age were the progression of Fintech Innovation, customers behavior changing, Thailand 4.0 policy, competition of commercial banks and non-bank service providers, and the COVID-19 situation. Besides, there were internal factors affecting the adaptation, which are executives visions, Organic Culture and service providing skills of bank employees. There are five significant methods to adapt commercial banks. The first is the creation of a customer centric business model by using cooperation from business alliances. Since digital banks could not adapt themselves to do different business models. Consequently, commercial banks mostly focused on making cooperation with Fintech and investing in the top digital companies. Furthermore, switching to social banking which is a platform for financial society assists connecting service providers to clients intimately and conveniently. Moreover, banks should research and get to know utilizable technologies to reach the maximum efficiency. In addition, banks should have the leader who has visions to transform organization and originate suitable organizational culture under fluctuating situations. Lastly, bank employees are supposed to have modern financial technologies skills to provide services to customers.