Marketing, exhibitions, religious and charity events — the journey of A&B Money, growing alongside the Thai community abroad for over a decade.
Everything began in a small room, from the idea of building a Thai-owned money-transfer company without relying on foreigners. We registered the company in Thailand and took the idea to commercial banks.
We started with one phone and one laptop, building a network — and it was very hard to earn customers’ trust as a newcomer.
We registered the company and applied for an international money-transfer licence with HMRC and the FCA (SPI Licence), establishing in London, UK — the launch of the first Thai-owned money-transfer company in the UK, moving funds together with HSBC.
That year everything was simple: customers could transfer in cash or via bank account, and we grew from tens of customers to thousands.
We reached every market segment by joining Thai activities across major UK cities and running varied marketing promotions.
We began collaborating with other markets such as Singha, flight agents West East Travel and Best Deal Flight, and the famous Thai Square restaurant.
We entered concert marketing for the first time with the “Carabao” concert sponsored by Chang Beer, alongside the “12 Months 12 Events” promotion via Facebook and our website.
We opened a new branch in Chicago, Illinois under a FinCEN licence — the first Thai-owned transfer company welcomed by Bank of America to do business.
We helped temples promote the visit of well-known speaker “Riw Jitsamphat”, sharing the travel costs.
We were honored to join religious activities with Ven. V. Vajiramedhi, where A&B Money sent the association’s donations back to Thailand free of charge.
We ran special-occasion games with major supermarkets — Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose — giving out gift vouchers in the UK.
We combined the market’s best advantages — fast receipt and wholesale exchange rates — and sponsored sports programmes for Thai students studying in the UK.
Channel 5’s “International News Room” travelled from Thailand to interview us as the first Thai-owned transfer company, and we were honored to receive a memento from HRH Princess Chulabhorn.
At year-end we were named the best money-transfer company to Thailand — “The Best Money Transfer UK/THAILAND 2015” from AI – Award Intelligence.
The FCA approved our highest European licence — the API Licence — handling over €38 million, with approval to operate in 31 European countries, and we were invited by the Bank of Thailand.
We opened a Berlin branch with Asia Foodland and a Stockholm branch in Sweden, launched a new B2B and E-Com website, and won Best Money Transfer for the second year running from Wealth & Finance International.
We moved to a new London office to house our servers and staff for the two new branches, welcoming over 100,000 Thai people in Europe, with Songkran events at Wat Buddhapadipa and Wat Buddharam.
In the UK we ran three major activities with the famous luktoung singer “Jintara” and the rock band Body Slam.
We succeeded in trading with the “Alibaba” group to connect funds with China and Hong Kong, and launched our banking-account system as A&B Money Plus at the Novotel London in November 2018.
We became the first Thai-owned banking-account provider in the UK and EU, with a Mastercard debit card for worldwide spending and cash withdrawal.
We opened A&B Plus Business accounts targeting MSBs and PSPs, were chosen as an official partner by leading European acquirer Secured Trading, and were invited to a Bank of England (BOE) briefing on Brexit.
The year closed with a Global 100 award naming us “Leader in International Money Transfer & Banking 2019”, driving 137% business growth over the prior year.
The government declared two lockdowns during COVID-19; we switched staff to remote working under ISO 14001 and planned for Brexit.
At year-end we applied for the highest Treasury licence to change from a “company” to a “bank” as an Authorised Electronic Money Issuer, passed Ocreus Group’s audit, and grew revenue by over 36.45%.
We developed online marketing, ran live shows and created the YouTube channel “A&B Reality”, and recharged the team at the Bournemouth seashore.
Amid the Fintech market, we developed up to 35 currencies, with payments to over 200 countries via mobile or computer.
We toured four major UK cities under the “Magic of A&B Plus” campaign — £10 instant credit for new accounts, plus chances to win 8 gold bars and an iPad.
Building on that success, we became the main sponsor of “Songkran” at Wat Buddhapadipa, London, and returned to customers in Brighton and London once again.
