PromptPay has been a game changer for Thailand’s digital payments, given its convenience, speed, security, and low cost. Since its launch in 2016, the registration rate and number of transactions have been continuously increasing. Its popularity increased dramatically during the pandemic, as people minimized exposure to cash and switched to online transactions.
Following the domestic success, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has expanded the PromptPay’s coverage to other ASEAN countries as part of the ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative. Linkages are also forged beyond ASEAN—to countries with strong economic ties with Thailand, especially with large flows of migrant workers and tourists. Use cases for cross-border payments include: (1) cross-border QR payments and (2) cross-border fund transfers, with real-time execution at relatively lower fees.
In the future, the BOT expects to add more strategic partner countries as well as to increase the number of service providers to better serve people’s needs.