Thailand No.3 in the global electronic payment hit parade

A new study by ACI Worldwide, Global Data, and the Centre for Economics and Business Research, revealed Thailand is in the world’s top 3 nations in terms of electronic payment transactions.

Thailand last year recorded 9.7 billion real-time electronic payment transactions, putting it in 3rd position globally after India (48.6 billion times) and China (18.5 billion times).

Deputy government spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek yesterday revealed real-time e-payments have helped boost Thailand’s GDP in 2021 by almost 2.5%, the 2^nd largest GDP increase out of 30 countries covered in the report.

“In 2020 and 2019, Thailand had recorded only 5.24 billion and 2.57 billion real-time payments, respectively.”

The 46 year old says e-payments in Thailand have risen substantially because people of all ages have embraced the change, and that the kingdom’s comprehensive payment infrastructure easily made the transition from cash to e-payment possible.

“The widespread adoption of real-time e-payment is a result of the national e-payment policy which was first introduced in 2015. Since then, we have launched several successful projects that use the e-payment infrastructure, including the state welfare card, government wallet (G-wallet), and the Pao Tang application, which was used in economic stimulus campaigns such as Let’s Go Halves, We Travel Together, and Eat, Shop, Spend. The pandemic is also a factor contributing to the surge in popularity of real-time e-payments.”

Ratchada says the government will continue promoting Thailand’s e-payment policy by covering more applications.

“This policy has helped the public and business sector with economic activities, which will eventually enhance people’s quality of life, boost the country’s competitiveness and improve the ease of doing business in Thailand.”

SOURCE: The Star