Cross-border Payment
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.
Examples: 1. Thai tourists traveling to Vietnam may use their BBL, KTB or BAY mobile application to scan VietQR of TPBank or BIDV at merchants in Vietnam to make payments for their goods or services.
2. Malaysian tourists traveling to Thailand may use their Public Bank mobile application to scan the Thai QR payment of BBL, KBANK, KTB, SCB, BAY or CIMB Thai at merchants in Thailand to make payments for their goods or services.
Examples: 1. Singaporean workers in Thailand may transfer money to recipients in Singapore having a DBS, OCBC, or UOB bank account through BBL, KBANK, KTB, or SCB mobile application by using the mobile phone number of the recipient.
2. Thai workers in Singapore may transfer money to recipients in Thailand having a BBL, KBANK, KTB, or SCB bank account through DBS, OCBC, or UOB mobile application by using the mobile phone number of the recipient.
The cross-border QR payment between Thailand is offered to Cambodian tourists visiting Thailand, who can use their mobile banking applications to scan THAI QR Codes at merchants in Thailand. On the other hand, Thai tourists will also be able to use their Thai mobile banking applications to scan KHQR Codes to pay for goods and services at merchants in Cambodia. This service is based on interoperable QR codes compliant with international standards.
It does not only facilitate trade and tourism between both countries, but also marks a significant step towards financial inclusion and widespread usage of local currencies.
The cross-border QR Payment Linkage between Thailand and Japan is the result of the cooperation among Thai commercial banks and service providers in Japan, with support from the Bank of Thailand. The service allows Thai tourists to make payments for goods and services in Japan by generating buyer’s QR Codes under the MyPromptQR scheme in their mobile banking application. Japanese participating merchants then accept payments by scanning the created QR Code to ensure convenient, quick, and secure payments. As Japan is one of the top three destinations for Thai tourists, this QR payment linkage will help facilitate large number of Thai tourists in Japan.
The cross-border payment linkage between Thailand and Malaysia successfully connects the real-time retail payment systems of two countries, PromptPay in Thailand and DuitNow in Malaysia. The service is the result of the close collaboration between the Bank of Thailand and Bank Negara Malaysia that enables safe, fast, and low-cost cross-border payments through national QR codes of both countries (DuitNow QR codes and Thai QR codes). Tourists of both countries can make payments of goods and services by scanning QR code at merchants. This collaboration also marks a key milestone in the ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative that promotes regional financial integration through increased efficiency, increased speed, reduced costs, and improved user experience. The linkage will also strengthen economic ties between Thailand and Malaysia.
The cross-border QR Payment Linkage between Thailand and Vietnam has been initiated by the Bank of Thailand and the State Bank of Vietnam, together with participating commercial banks from both countries. This service enables tourists from both countries to make payments for goods and services via mobile banking applications of participating banks by scanning the standardized QR Code of both countries namely Thai QR Payment and VietQR. The service serves as a fast, convenient, and low-cost alternative payment method to enable cross-border transaction and marks an important milestone for ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative to promote sustainable growth and regional financial development.
The world’s first real time payment linkage between Thailand’s PromptPay and Singapore’s PayNow aims to enable cross-border transfers between the two countries as it provides convenient, fast (within minutes), and safe cross-border money transfer at a fraction of the usual cost, similar to that of domestic transfers.
In the first phase, customers of participating banks may transfer their money not exceeding SGD 1,000 or THB 25,000 per day via the participating bank application using the mobile number of the recipient, without the need to provide other information like that of a usual international transfer (e.g., recipient’s name and account details).
In the future, the Bank of Thailand aims to expand the PromptPay-PayNow linkage by increasing number of participating banks and lifting daily limit to further support business transactions.
PromptPay-NETS
The payment connectivity between Thailand’s PromptPay and Singapore’s NET is designed to facilitate cross-border QR payments by tourists from both countries. Leveraging on the Thai QR payment’s success, the Thailand-Singapore QR payment linkage allows fast, safe, and convenient payments between buyers and sellers. In the next phase, the Bank of Thailand aims to increase the number of participating merchants and banks.
The cross-border payment linkage between Thailand and Indonesia connects national payment infrastructures of Thailand and Indonesia to enable cross-border QR payments. Tourists and merchants in both countries can make and accept instant cross-border QR payments. Thai tourists may use their mobile payment applications to scan QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard), the standardized QR code in Indonesia, to make payments to merchants in Indonesia. Likewise, Indonesian tourists may use their mobile payment applications to scan Thai QR Codes to pay for goods and services at merchants in Thailand. The linkage marks a key milestone in the ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative, aiming to promote regional financial integration.
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The cross-border QR payment linkage between Hong Kong and Thailand provides a fast, secure and easily accessible cross-border retail payment service to people travelling between Hong Kong and Thailand. Through this linkage, travellers from Thailand and Hong Kong will be able to make retail payments by using their mobile payment applications to scan the Thai PromptPay QR Code or Hong Kong FPS QR code displayed by merchants. Users will benefit from an additional efficient payment means, while merchants will be able to receive their funds immediately. This payment connectivity would provide travellers with greater convenience, hence supporting tourism and economic activities of Hong Kong and Thailand.
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The cross-border payment linkage between Thailand and the Lao PDR through the fast payment infrastructure of Thailand and the Lao PDR has enabled customers and merchants from both countries to instantly conduct cross-border payment transactions using QR codes. The cross-border QR payment linkage will facilitate economic activities between Thailand and Lao PDR, particularly those related to the tourism sector. The payment linkage between the two nations is another significant step toward enhancing payment connectivity in the ASEAN region, promoting financial integration at the regional level.
Starting from April 3, 2024, users from Lao PDR will be able to use mobile banking applications of participating commercial banks to scan Thai PromptPay QR Code displayed by merchants in Thailand. Additionally, by June 2024, users from Thailand will be able to use mobile banking applications of participating commercial banks to scan LAO QR Code displayed by merchants in Lao PDR.
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