The Bank of Thailand has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation on a pilot project to develop interoperability of standard QR payment with the National Bank of Cambodia.
The agreement is expected to facilitate retail payment services in Cambodia and payment linkages between the two countries, the Bank of Thailand said in a statement.
"The MoU aims to enhance the collaboration on financial innovations and payment services to promote more efficient and secure domestic and cross-border payment transactions, as well as to promote the usage of local currencies, said central bank governor Veerathai Santiprabhob after signing the agreement at the annual bilateral meetings between the Bank of Thailand and its counterpart in Cambodia.
The meetings are meant to strengthen cooperation between the two central banks, enhancing financial cooperation and promoting sustainable economic growth in Cambodia and Thailand, he said.
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said earlier the Bank of Thailand initiated cross-border fund transfers with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) by scanning QR codes to facilitate deeper integration in the region.
The service should help lower fund transfer costs in the region, particularly for CLMV migrant workers in Thailand who are now charged 10% of the transfer amount for remittance service, said Mr Apisak.
Apart from the central bank, Thai banks are reportedly seeking entry to regional markets under two business models -- standardised QR payment and bank sponsorship.
Under the QR standard model, the National Interbank Transaction Management and Exchange Co, the country's payment system provider, plans to connect the standardised payment system with South Korea under the Asean Payment Network scheme.
For the bank sponsorship model, Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) serves as an example. The country's fifth largest bank by assets has cooperated with its Japanese majority shareholder, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, to launch a cross-border QR code system, enabling BAY customers to scan the Thai QR code using any banking app at leading shopping malls and popular stores throughout Japan.