Bangkok Bank Public : is the first to provide cross-border QR payments between Thailand and Indonesia to support long-term tourism recovery

Bangkok Bank has successfully provided cross-border QR payments between Thailand and Indonesia emphasizing its status as a trusted regional provider of cross-border payments. Prior to this, the Bank was the first bank to provide cross-border QR payments between Thailand and Vietnam in the first quarter of this year. The strength of the service lies in its safe and convenient transactions as well as its lower exchange rate fees. In addition, QR payments support a large number of retailers and has high customer awareness. This service also reflects the reality of the New Normal era. The Bank is confident that this service will support long-term tourism recovery as the Covid-19 situation unfolds.

In March 2021, Bangkok Bank was the first bank and the settlement bank to provide a cross-border QR payment service between Thailand and Vietnam.

Now, Executive Vice President Pornnit Dunnvatanachit revealed that Bangkok Bank is the first bank and the settlement bank to provide a cross-border QR payment service between Thailand and Indonesia. Under the cooperation between the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and Bank Indonesia (BI), the service provides cross-border QR payments between these two countries which will increase efficiency and support the standardization of the financial infrastructure ecosystem across the region. Meanwhile, this service provides great convenience while creating a positive experience and helps reduce international financial costs.

With this cross-border QR payment service, customers can use the Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking application to scan and pay for goods in Indonesia, while customers of Indonesian banks that participate in the service, such as Permata Bank, can pay for products and services in Thailand with their respective bank apps. This service is safe and convenient, allowing customers to pay for goods and merchants to accept payments in their home currency with lower exchange rate fees than they would get by paying by credit or debit card.

QR payments are widely used and are an important tool in receiving payments for merchants both in Thailand and Indonesia as they can significantly help increase sales for the store. For example, merchants will not miss out on sales opportunities if customers do not carry enough cash to make purchases. Customers or consumers have also become highly familiar with the process and prefer to pay using a QR code. Therefore, many stores support this type of payment. In addition, the service also reduces the use of cash to prevent the spread of Covid-19. In Thailand, the number of e-payment transactions in 2020, including QR code payments, reached 13.39 million, up by 49.14% from the previous year.

Ms. Pornnit added that the Covid-19 situation may still require restrictions on domestic and international travel or business dealings, which limits the use of cross-border QR payment services to certain groups of customers such as Indonesians working in Thailand or Thais working in Indonesia, as well as those making online cross-border purchases. However, when the situation improves and regional travel opens up, particularly in major cities and economies, cross-border QR payments will play an important role in supporting the recovery, as it reflects the reality of the New Normal era in which there is less physical contact and more digital transactions.

'The cross-border QR payment service between Thailand and Indonesia marks another successful development of cross-border QR payments via Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking after making the service available between Thailand and Vietnam in March. This reflects Bangkok Bank's commitment as a trusted partner who is ready to be a regional provider of cross-border payments to help customers make financial transactions with convenience. This is also in line with the Bank's vision of being a regional bank,' said Ms. Pornnit.