2C2P (Thailand), a global payments platform under the Ant Group, has continued to grow by gaining more merchant partners from Alibaba while catering to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating offline, enabling them to receive e-wallet payments from Chinese visitors to Thailand.
"We will grow revenue by at least 500-700 million baht in 2024 to 3.7-3.9 billion baht, up from 3.2 billion last year, which represented 30% growth over 2022," said Piyachart Ratanaprasartporn, chief executive of 2C2P (Thailand).
The growth is being driven by the provision of a payment gateway solution, which accounts for 60% of the company's total revenue. The company has benefited from the rebound of the tourism sector and continuing growth of the e-commerce sector as well as the government's e-receipt scheme aimed at stimulating consumer spending.
Ant Group, backed by China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, acquired a major stake in 2C2P in April 2022. The company will therefore gain a benefit from this development by becoming a payment gateway in other countries for Lazada within Southeast Asia, in addition to Thailand.
2C2P is also adding a new feature to its Qwik payment solution called "Tap to Pay", aimed at stores that have storefronts or multiple branches.
Any Android mobile device that has NFC (Near Field Communication) technology can use this payment solution. SMEs' customers can simply tap their credit cards to pay at the storefront.
He said this is the first time the company has opted to support offline payments for SME merchants to facilitate quicker and more efficient sales closures in-store.
"We also support foreign e-wallets such as Alipay and Wechatpay to support Chinese tourists."
SMEs who use the Qwik mobile app will save on the cost of using an electronic data caputure (EDC) terminal, which could typically cost up to 10,000 baht, Mr Piyachart said. This means the SMEs don't have to use an EDC terminal, but can use another mobile device instead which is compatible with Tap to Pay.
The company expects to serve 5,000 SMEs initially. The Tap to Pay e-payment solution is expected to be launched in Thailand first during the second quarter this year, and thereafter across other Southeast Asian markets.
The company expects total process volume worth 360 billion baht this year from all partners using its gateway solution, up from 300 billion baht in 2023, with over 150 million online transactions. Most of 2023's transactions came from marketplaces, food delivery, super apps, airlines, direct sales, and travel.
Mr Piyachart said Thailand's digital payment landscape changed rapidly during the pandemic as Thais moved away from using cash, with the transaction value of digital commerce soaring from about US$15 million in 2020 to $31 million in 2023. This figure is projected to climb to $51 million in 2027.
Among the most popular payment methods in Thailand in terms of value are digital wallets, accounting for a 28% share, and credit cards, with a 24% share.
The company is one of two non-banks taking part in the pilot phase of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) implementation.
Mr Piyachart also anticipates that payment gateway business operators (non-bank) will only have five players remaining, of which three are major players, as other players will merge or be acquired.