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.

The basic banking account has no minimum balance requirement and offers free ATMs and debit cards to those who qualify. The scheme is expected to roll out by October this year. The Bank of Thailand is also undergoing regulatory reform to review outdated rules and regulations, to facilitate ease of doing business and ensure that our regulations do not impede competition and innovation and contribute to high costs of financial services. We started with foreign exchange regulations last year and are now reviewing banking regulations to improve digital banking environment and SME financing. In addition, the current backdrop of high household debt in Thailand and the need to improve individual’s financial safety net necessitate an overall improvement in financial literacy as well as financial planning skill. We have also tightened our market conduct regulations to ensure that misselling is minimized and financial institutions provide fair and transparent products and services. Given the growing importance of digital technology for financial services, we must also make sure that those with lower skills can reap the benefits that technology brings, to avoid digital divide. Last but not least, creating a financial ecosystem that values sustainability is critical to ensure that the Thai financial system of the future can continue to develop in such a way that would benefit all segments of the society and create minimal negative externalities. Later this month, the Bank of Thailand will host the first Bangkok Sustainable Banking Forum.