Bank of Thailand to Launch QR Code Cross-Border Payments with India

(CTN News) – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) is poised to introduce QR code cross-border payments between Thailand and India by the third quarter of this year, with ambitions to broaden this system into a pan-Asian multinational payment network.

Daranee Saeju, Assistant Governor for Payment Systems Policy and Financial Consumer Protection Group at the central bank, disclosed that the payment link with India remains on track for operationalization in the third quarter.

Cross-border QR payment linkage

This stride owes itself to collaborative efforts with nations beyond the ASEAN group.

BoT has already implemented QR code cross-border payment connections with a slew of countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan.

These international transactions are facilitated through PromptPay, Thailand’s national electronic payment platform, inaugurated in 2016.

In the context of Singapore, the cross-border payment connections encompass both QR code payments and remittance services. Daranee hinted that forthcoming phases of cross-border payments will integrate money transfers across regions through multinational tie-ups.

This strategic move promises to significantly bolster the efficiency of payment systems compared to existing bilateral arrangements.

The cross-border remittance initiative, initially piloted with Singapore, is slated to extend to other regional counterparts, Daranee added.

PromptPay QR Payment Transactions

Highlighting PromptPay’s potential, Daranee suggested that the platform could establish a new transaction record this year, building on its historic peak in 2023. Since its inception in 2016, PromptPay transactions have exhibited consistent growth, particularly amid the pandemic.

“Since the introduction of PromptPay, cash transactions have continued to dwindle, constituting around 66% of total banking transactions.”

Presently boasting 77.6 million registered users, PromptPay witnessed a record 75.9 million financial transactions per day in December last year.

On average, daily money transfers via PromptPay in 2023 amounted to 54.5 million, with a cumulative value of 130 billion baht, according to the Bank of Thailand’s Payment Insight report, as cited by the Bangkok Post.

With the imminent integration of QR code cross-border payments with India and broader aspirations for a pan-Asian network, Thailand’s strides in digital payment infrastructure underscore its commitment to fostering seamless financial connectivity across borders.