Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS) has teamed up with Kasikornbank (KBank) on a payment gateway, an e-commerce application that lets online merchants accept credit cards and other forms of internet transactions via the mPay website.
The move is aimed at serving increased mobile commerce and encouraging a cashless society, said Supreecha Limpikanjanakowit, managing director of Advanced mPay, the mobile payment arm of AIS.
The service will also complement the Bank of Thailand's financial policy and the government's digital economy initiative, he said.
A payment gateway is a service that authorises credit card payments for online and offline businesses. It is the equivalent of a physical point-of-sale terminal in a shop or restaurant.
Mr Supreecha said the gateway facility would drive growth of a new digital commerce ecosystem.
E-commerce in Thailand is growing by 20% or more a year on average.
The mPay gateway accepts payments through multiple channels from nine commercial banks with over 50,000 ATMs nationwide, the mPay e-wallet service and 50,000 mPay payment locations.
Merchants receive money within one day with no minimum payment requirements.
KBank developed the backbone of the payment gateway system for Advanced mPay, said Thawee Teerasoontornwong, executive vice-president of the bank.
The gateway facility is expected to make online shopping more convenient for both e-commerce operators and shoppers. More than 40% of the country's online payment system is connected to KBank's gateway.
"Our payment gateway has an average transaction value of 80 billion baht per year," Mr Thawee said.
Up to 14.87 million Thai consumers have bought products online.
The value of the business-to-commerce (B2C) market is expected to reach 220 billion baht in 2015.
Technological advancement, growing internet access, the rising popularity of smartphones and more sophisticated online payment systems are all conducive to e-commerce growth, Mr Thawee said.