The Finance Ministry will encourage merchants to install swiping devices for credit and debit cards after the number of merchants equipped with point-of-sale terminals under the national e-payment scheme was found to be 140,000, still far below the target of 560,000.
Although the installation of electronic data capture (EDC) terminals under the national e-payment scheme has made great strides in terms of device numbers, with 480,000 in place, the number of merchants is still too low, said finance permanent secretary Somchai Sujjapongse.
If the number of merchants installing EDC achieves the target, the number of card-swiping terminals will surpass the current level, Mr Somchai said, adding that some merchants have installed more than one EDC terminal.
The Finance Ministry last year granted approval to two banking consortiums to install 560,000 card-swiping terminals under the government's national e-payment scheme by March of this year.
One consortium comprises Bangkok Bank and KBank, while the Thai Alliance Payment System consists of five banks: Siam Commercial Bank, Krungthai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Thanachart Bank and TMB Bank.
EDC installation is meant to encourage people to use plastic cards when paying for goods and services, even for small-ticket items with prices as low as 20 baht. The money transfer service is part of the national e-payment scheme, designed to make Thailand less reliant on cash.
Mr Somchai said 18,000 EDC terminals at state agency premises are expected to be completely installed by March as scheduled, and this will encourage the private sector to make payments to the government via the electronic channel.
Commenting on how some merchants are concerned that EDC installation will enable the Revenue Department to track their income and tax payments, he said the tax-collecting agency is able to inspect tax payment records even if card-swiping terminals are not installed.
For PromptPay, a money transfer service under the national e-payment initiative, he said 37 million savings accounts have been used to sign up for the service, of which 25 million are wired with citizen ID numbers and the rest with mobile phone numbers.
The Finance Ministry wants to see a higher number of corporate firms registering for PromptPay after only 50,000 accounts signed up so far, Mr Somchai said.
Since the service was launched early last year, cumulative PromptPay transactions number 97 million, with 370 billion baht transferred via the channel.