TBank’s cross-border QR due for May start

Move to pave way for regional hub status

Thanachart Bank (TBank) plans to introduce the country’s first cross-border QR code payment service in May based on the PromptPay platform, enabling foreigners to make payments in Thailand by scanning a barcode. The move is expected to pave the way for the country to become the region’s cross-border payment hub.

TBank has joined with Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL) to adopt cross-border QR code payments, which will initially be available for Lao customers travelling to Thailand.

Ruchukorn Siriyodhin, deputy governor of the Bank of Thailand, said the Lao central bank is interested in adopting Thai QR payment standards, which will let the country standardise payment systems for both domestic and cross-border transactions.

Laos uses EMV payment, a standard for credit and debit card payments based on chip card technology.

Cross-border payments via PromptPay-based QR code would be expanded to other countries in the region, including Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

If the expansion takes hold, it could become the Asean QR code payment standard, which would improve productivity and lower costs. Furthermore, the digital payments would support trade, business activities and tourism across the region, Mrs Ruchukorn said.

Under the collaboration between TBank and BC EL, TBank is a sponsor bank offering the cross-border payment service to BCEL’s mobile banking customers for their payments in Thailand.

With Thailand’s standardised QR code under the PromptPay platform, BCEL’s customers can make payments at all merchants with barcode payments at their stores across Thailand, said TBank executive vice-president Anuwat Luengtawekul.

TBank, t he country’s sixth-largest lender by assets, will expand its cooperation with other Lao financial institutions for QR code payments to facilitate Thai customers using such payment services in Laos in the second phase, Mr Anuwat said. The agreement is meant to boost spending between the two countries.

“For the next phase, we aim to expand the cross-border digital payment service covering the CLMV,” Mr Anuwat said, referring to the bloc of neighbouring countries. “The service would largely serve regional tourists.”

In 2017, tourists from CLMV countries in Thailand reached 3.7 million. They spent a combined 114 billion baht. Both the number of tourists and spending volume from the CLMV in Thailand have shown positive growth over the past several years.

Separately, Nanthalath Keopaseuth, BCEL’s deputy managing director, said the bank’s mobile banking platform, BCEL One, has more than 200,000 users, ranking it No.1 in Lao mobile banking services with a market share of 90%.

BCEL, the largest Lao bank by assets, has a customer base of 1 million out of a total population of 6 million. The bank introduced QR code payments in December last year, with over 1,000 Lao merchants taking part.