Currently, there are almost 43 million registered user accounts and over 3 million transactions per day. The increasing usage of PromptPay also served as a catalyst that led all banks in Thailand to eliminate electronic fund transfer fees for online retail transactions. Besides, being a common infrastructure, PromptPay has also paved ways for many other digital payment features, including cross-bank bill payment, request-to-pay as well as e-donation services. Another initiative to promote digital payment services is the standardized QR code. Launched in collaboration with the five major global payment card network providers, Thailand’s standardized QR code for payment allows acceptance of common QR code for e-payment on any platforms regardless of merchants’ and consumers’ service providers. Its interoperability has led to remarkable speed of adoption; in less than one year since its launch, QR code payment is accepted by over 2 million merchants all over Thailand. More importantly, having common standards would improve competition and innovation, as they allow easy market entry for all players, especially small innovative players. Ultimately, greater adoption of digital payment will 3/6  help facilitate the transformation from collateral-based lending to information-based lending for SMEs as their payment transactions information can be consolidated and analyzed. In addition, the Bank of Thailand also supports financial innovation through our regulatory sandbox. The sandbox serves as a platform for financial institutions and FinTech firms to test new technologies and operating standards in a safe environment before the products and services are launched to the general public.

Prasarn Trairatvorakul: Bank of Thailand’s policy direction in 2012 Speech by Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the Bank of Thailand, Bangkok, 27 January 2012. *  *  *  Good afternoon, honorable guests and members of the press, 2012 is a special year because it is the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) 70th anniversary, a mark of extensive experience for an institution. Faced with numerous challenges to monetary policy and financial institutions policy implementation, the BOT has through the past 70 years upheld the institutional value that our policies must be based on sound principles, yet embracing enough flexibility to accommodate the changing environment. Our ultimate goal is to promote Thailand’s long-term economic and financial stability. Our policy direction in 2012 will continue to reaffirm our long-held determination to strengthen the country’s economic resiliency and the well-being of the Thai people. Notwithstanding short-term economic obstacles that have weighed on current sentiments, the Thai economy’s main challenge has remained the same since my address last year. This major challenge is how we all can become more proactive since idleness during a time of rising competition could easily cause us to fall behind. As such, all parties should always be ready to improve oneself and to prepare for uncertainties that may occur in the future. In this same spirit, the BOT has modified our strategy to fit the changing environment and is willing to work with all parties to ensure that the Thai economy can continually expand in line with its potential.