The report, Thailand Cards & Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2022, reveals that the share of cash in the overall payment volume is expected to decline from 85.6% in 2018 to 77.8% in 2022. The total card payment value is expected to increase from THB 1.8 trillion (USD 56.1 billion) to THB 2.7 trillion (USD 83.8 billion).
As part of the National e-Payment Master Plan, the government launched a programme in 2017 to drive POS installation among smaller retailers and government agencies. Merchants were offered tax deduction, fee waivers on POS issuance and rental, and a reduction of merchant discount rates.
In 2016, the Bank of Thailand launched a faster payment system, PromptPay, for peer-to-peer transfers and payments through mobile phone using only the recipients mobile number or national ID number. As of December 2018, 46.5 million users, over half of the country’s population, had registered for the system.
In August 2017, the central bank collaborated with American Express, JCB International, Mastercard, UnionPay, and Visa to introduce the Thai QR Code Payment standard to create an open, interoperable payments infrastructure.
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