The Bank of Thailand is emphasising PromptPay-based electronic payments for corporations in an effort to transform the country into a cashless society after the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) money transfer service has shown positive signs.
Businesses need to adjust internal operations and data linkage with e-payment systems to increase corporate PromptPay-based transactions, said Siritida Panomwan Na Ayudhya, the central bank's deputy governor for payment system policy and financial technology.
If the segment develops, it will facilitate e-payment transactions and increase volumes significantly, she said.
Money transfer via PromptPay service for C2C has gained traction after the service began in January 2017, with user numbers increasing as the average ticket size of the e-payments becomes smaller.
PromptPay's business-to-business service started on March 1, 2017.
There have been 127 million transactions through PromptPay's C2C service with a combined value of 490 billion baht since the service started.
PromptPay's average ticket size fell to 3,500-3,800 baht per transaction from 5,000-6,000 when the service went live.
PromptPay is a part of the national e-payment scheme to transform the country into a cashless society in compliance with the Thailand 4.0 model.
Others are upgrades include electronic data capture device expansion, e-tax and e-welfare and subsidy.
The central bank has permitted several e-payment methods, including consumer and corporate PromptPay, QR payment, e-wallet, and request-to-pay, to comply with the national e-payment scheme.
The number of merchants receiving QR code payments is close to 1 million after the payment system launched last year.
"E-payment volumes have been rising significantly and have stayed in the positive trend, but account for less than 10% of total payment volume," she said.
In addition, Ms Siritida said the central bank also continues to encourage development of digital banking instruments to build the country's ecosystem and digital platform.
The Bank of Thailand will shift its focus to data analytics, biometric, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and QR code payment for debit and credit card this year.
Three blockchain projects, one of which is for letters of guarantee and the other two are for remittances, are being tested in the central bank's regulatory sandbox.
As these blockchain projects have entered the second phase, they will require more time before exiting the sandbox.
Apart from the blockchain, biometric technology for facial log-in to digital banking services is being trialled in the sandbox.
The Bank of Thailand has scheduled Bangkok Fintech Fair 2018 during March 19-20 with the aim of providing solutions to small- and medium-sized enterprises and consumers, driving digital innovation and enhancing competitiveness in the marketplace.