History

His Majesty King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) introduced savings services to
Thailand in 1907. Following the model and savings practice of the Edinburgh Savings Bank, the first British modern savings office, King Vajiravudh established the first savings office in Thailand called 'Leefotia Bank', located within the Chitralada Palace (Parusakawan Garden area). The main purpose was to educate the court officials on banking services and to promote savings habit among them. After His accession to the throne, King Vajiravudh issued an act, effective from 1 April 1913, to formally set up the 'Savings Office'. The Savings Office began its operation under the Royal Treasury since then, with a seed money of baht 100,000 provided by King Vajiravudh Himself.

Later, in 1946, the Government Savings Bank Act B.E. 2489 (1946) was issued on 18 December 1946 to transfer the Savings Office to be under the Ministry of Finance and renamed the Office the 'Government Savings Bank' (GSB), to take effect from 1 April 1947, which was the first year of King Bhumibol Adulyadejûs reign. This Act, in fact, brought about a genuine savings bank for Thailand as practiced in other countries. The Bankûs main objective was to promote social well-being in terms of assetsé which was to be achieved by offering the service in safeguarding the people's money, at the same time, generating reasonable returns on the deposited money for the depositors. The GSB was set up as a juristic person, to be operated independently under the supervision of the Board of Directors appointed by the Finance Minister.

Subsequently, in 1998, the Government issued a Royal Decree on the Modification of the GSB's Functions (No. 2) B.E. 2541 (1998) to allow the expansion of the GSB's operations to accommodate the development of financial instruments and businesses as well as the emergence of recent financial innovations. The Decree has allowed the GSB to be engaged in such non-traditional services as foreign exchange, financial consulting, issuing of letters of guarantee and aval, with the aim to better serve the growing needs of its customers.

Gearing towards
a Quality Bank

Over the 90 years of its existence, the GSB has grown stably. It has taken pride in serving as the peopleûs bank. It has committed to delivering the best quality services to its customers, taking into accounts the diverse needs of people from all strata. The GSB has also constantly improved its efficiency to be responsive to the rapidly changing situations, both locally and internationally.

The vision of the GSB has been recently modified, from 'To be the Bank of the People's Choice' to çTo be a leading financial institution that provides quality and impressive services to people from all walks of life, by the year 2007, through the practice of good governance and the employing of cutting edge technology.é Its new vision reflects that the GSB recognizes the significance of developing its products and services as well as its service channels with the aim to deliver convenient, speedy and effective services to satisfy the needs of its customers and the general public. This will be achieved by ways of modernizing its information technology system and employing highly qualified and committed staff. This is also in line with the Bankûs philosophy, which aims for the çprosperity of the Bank, benefits for the society and contentment of the staff.é

While gearing towards retail customers to support the Government's economic and social development policy, the GSB has also tried to be responsive to the needs of other groups of its diverse customers. Thus, its financial services, namely deposit, credit and other services, have been constantly developed and diversified to accommodate such varied needs, without compromising the mission that it has committed to from the beginning.