A Thai tourist can now scan a Malaysian shop’s DuitNow QR code on a phone and pay on the spot, no cash or currency exchange needed. Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand switched on the link in June 2021, and it is the first of three phases.
The project began in June 2020. Phase one connects Malaysia’s DuitNow with Thailand’s PromptPay so that users in Thailand can pay Malaysian merchants, including online sellers. Phase two, due in the fourth quarter of 2021, will let Malaysians scan PromptPay codes to pay in Thailand. Phase three, set for the fourth quarter of 2022, adds cross-border transfers made with just the recipient’s mobile number.
ASEAN Briefing dated the launch to 18 June 2021.
Who is behind it
Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) and Thailand’s National ITMX run the payment systems. CIMB Thai and Public Bank are the first two banks offering the service to customers. CIMB Group and CIMB Thai were named settlement banks.
What officials said
Bank Negara said the service should help more people in both countries “when international travel resumes,” since they can pay with mobile apps instead of cash. Deputy Governor Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said the link will make cross-border payments faster, cheaper and more inclusive. “It will give more options for consumers and merchants in the cross-border payment space,” he said.
The Bank of Thailand’s deputy governor, Ronadol Numnonda, said the bank has kept pushing for links between payment systems of this kind.
Part of a wider push
The Malaysia-Thailand link follows a similar one between Thailand and Singapore. Launched in April 2021, it lets PayNow and PromptPay users send up to S$1,000 or THB25,000 a day by phone.
ASEAN Briefing noted that such networks could open digital payments to the region’s unbanked and underbanked, about 290 million people.
Sources
- Malaysia and Thailand launch cross-border QR payment
- Malaysia and Thailand Launch QR Payment Linkage
