Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), one of Thailand’s largest banks by assets, has revealed the formation of a partnership with Ripple which provides an enterprise blockchain solution for global payments.
Following a successful exit from the Bank of Thailand (BoT) regulatory sandbox, SCB launched a new Outward Remittance Service via its mobile banking app, SCB EASY, to its retail customers across Thailand. “Outward Remittance Service via SCB EASY” is powered by Ripple’s blockchain technology, RippleNet. It aims to improve SCB’s cross-border payments and expand its USD, GBP, EUR, and SGD remittance service across 12 countries, including the United Kingdom, USA, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, and Portugal.
The service is more convenient as customers can quickly make transactions anytime and it is faster with transfer time potentially reduced to a few seconds depending on the sending location and the beneficiary bank. The service targets three segments: international trade, parents of overseas students, and family support. Considering the spread of the COVID-19 virus, a further advantage of the new service is that it reduces the risks from handling cash. By 2020, SCB expects to see an increase in the number of transactions to 80,000, or a total transferred amount of THB 11 billion (USD 340 million).
SCB also partners with startups around the world to provide money transfer services into Thailand. With the same Ripple network payments can be instantly transferred from around the world through SCB to recipients using PromptPay, Thailand’s domestic payment network, at more than 24 Thai banks.
Mobile payments are quite popular in Asia. PwC’s Global Consumer Insights Survey 2019 found that eight from the top ten nations that use this type of payment mechanism are in Asia. According to the study, 67% of the population in Thailand is using mobile payment applications.
(Sources: The Chain Bulletin; Siam Commercial Bank; Ripple)
