On Monday (Dec 4), Thailand and China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region launched a QR code-based cross-border payment service. The goal is to supply travelers with fast, secure and accessible retail payments.
Thanks to the collaboration between Thailand’s PromptPay and Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System (FPS), customers can use mobile payment apps to scan QR codes presented by merchants for simple and efficient transactions. On the vendor side, they receive payment immediately. The news was announced in a joint press release by the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
Thailand visitors in Hong Kong will give you the chance to make use of their PromptPay app with over 50,000 FPS merchants in Hong Kong. On the opposite hand, travelers to Hong Kong can use the FPS app at over a million PromptPay merchants in Thailand.
It is value noting that there’s a each day deposit limit. Hong Kong travelers could make transactions value as much as HKD 10,000 ($1,279), while Thai travelers can spend as much as 500,000 baht ($14,149) per day.
Collaboration under this initiative was achieved through the involvement of assorted stakeholders from each jurisdictions, under the joint supervision of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT). Some of the parties involved on this cooperation are Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited (HKICL) and National ITMX (NITMX), which act as operators of easy payments systems.
On the opposite hand, there are HSBC Hong Kong and Bangkok Bank, which act as settlement banks on this initiative, chargeable for cross-border settlement of this service. In total, seven banks and two non-bank stored value facilities from Hong Kong and three industrial banks from Thailand are participating within the cooperation.
According to Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, this cooperation represents a vital step towards a more connected and digital financial landscape within the region.
Sethaput also said that this QR code-based cross-border payment system is anticipated to bring tangible advantages to 1.5 million travelers from Hong Kong and Thailand. This is anticipated to extend traveler convenience while supporting tourism activities and economic growth in each countries.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Eddie Yue said the service marks a historic step for Hong Kong FPS in developing its utility for cross-border payments.
