She said, “Since mid-March, these banks have been notifying their 200,000 customers about the new e-dividend services. The banks have confirmed to their customers that the banks plan to transfer their dividends directly into the client’s bank account(s) unless they hear otherwise from the customer, and a second document, in a sealed envelope, stating the numbers of the accounts to be used for their dividend transfers.”
Ms. Nongram said that shareholders who are clients of these banks will be able to use the e-dividend service as soon as they receive the documents without any additional charges or any further applications.
She noted, “Dividends will be transferred to these accounts automatically with no confirmation required. However, if shareholders would like to have dividends transferred into the accounts other than those specified in the sealed envelopes, no matter whether their preferred accounts belong to one of the participating banks or not, they can make the change by notifying the TSD.
“In any case, the TSD is confident that everything will be in place to enable shareholders to receive their dividends by the time the dividend payment season starts. Transfers of dividends will commence starting from April 1, 2005,” said Mrs. Nongram.
If shareholders would prefer to receive dividends in the form of bank cheques, they can notify the TSD anytime.
“Shareholders who have previously applied for the e-dividend service directly with the TSD, through their brokers, or with other commercial banks, should know that their account preferences are still effective and they are not required to make any further confirmations,” Mrs. Nongram concluded.
