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Thailand Country Report
- Published Date: July 2020
THAILAND CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORT
A comprehensive overview of the cards, payments and consumer banking market in Thailand with perceptive commentary backed by relevant data.
Thailand's payments market is robust and increasingly technology-led, with consumers responding positively to government policies promoting digital and cashless payments.
Card use is growing, with issuers investing in rewards programmes, promotional campaigns and cashback schemes, supported by the rise of internet and mobile banking.
QR code payments and digital wallets are proving increasingly popular while PromptPay, the instant payment scheme launched in 2017, has seen transaction volumes soar from around $11bn in 2017 to$442bn by the end of 2019.
What you can learn from this Thailand payments report:
How the government and other stakeholders work to promote digital payments.
Which credit card market segment is proving lucrative.
What card tie-ups and reward schemes appeal to consumers.
Who is gaining market share in Thailand debit cards.
THAILAND COUNTRY REPORT | KEY FACTS
- Thailand's banking and payments market is rapidly developing, with financial inclusion increasing and cash use on the decline.
- The central bank and bankers' association are leading a strategic plan with the goal of creating a modern and inclusive digital society.
- An instant payments platform, PromptPay, launched in 2017, has proven popular: there were 50 million registered users at the end of 2019.
- Payment by QR code is on the rise, with a standardised format rolled out in 2017 that the card networks, banks, PromptPay and other payment providers all now support.
- The number of POS terminals in the market almost trebled from 2013 to 2019, helping to increase payment card purchase volume.
- The Thailand credit card user base remains small at just 12 per cent of adults and is focused increasingly on the Premium segment.
- The market is closely regulated, with caps on credit card limits and interest rates and a relatively large minimum payment requirement of ten per cent.
- The international card networks have adapted to regulations requiring all domestic debit card transactions to be processed on local schemes. Market leader Visa obtained a licence to operate its own domestic network.
- Mastercard and UnionPay have partnered with local schemes to comply with the regulation. The latter has grown its market share significantly in recent years.
Thailand Payments Research | Report Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Demographics and the economy
Payments environment
Thai cards market
Mobile payments
Profit pool
The networks
Key retail banks and issuers
Acquiring and processing
Online acquiring
Regulatory and other cards market information
Appendices: Cards Market Data
Appendix I: Demographics and the economy
- Demographic and economic indicators
- Ownership of key consumer devices
- Internet usage by population
Appendix II: Payments environment
- Access points
- Account penetration
- Consumer payment trends
- B2C e-commerce payment methods
Appendix III: Cards market
- Total cards payment metrics
- Thailand credit card data numbers
- Total credit cards metrics
- Credit cards profitability indicators
- Debit cards numbers
- Debit cards metrics
- ATM-only cards numbers
- Prepaid/e-money cards metrics
Appendix IV: Mobile payments
- Mobile P2P payments
Appendix V: Profit pool
- Profit pool
Appendix VI: The networks
- Networks' credit card market shares
- Networks' credit card numbers
- Networks' credit card billed volume
- Networks' number of credit card transactions
- Networks' average credit card transaction value
- Networks' debit card market shares
- Networks' debit card numbers
- Networks' debit card billed volume
- Networks' number of debit card transactions
- Networks' average debit card transaction value
Appendix VII: Key retail banks and issuers
- Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers
- Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings
- Key debit card issuers market shares by debit card numbers
Appendix VIII: Acquiring and processing
- Merchant acquirer credit card market share
- Credit card merchant service charges
- Merchant acquirer debit card market share
- Debit card merchant service charges
- Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships
- Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships
- Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers
- Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions
Appendix IX: Online acquiring
- Online merchant acquirer market share
Thailand Country Report | Selected Extracts
Demographics and Economy
The Thai economy is heavily dependent on exports, which account for more than two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product. Growth slumped to a five-year low in 2019 as the trade war between the United States and China weakened global trade.
Payments Environment
Thailand has a robust payments market that is increasingly technology-led, in line with the government's intent of moving towards a digital or cashless payments environment.
Cards market
The total billed volume on payment cards (debit, credit, ATM and prepaid cards) was about $342 billion in 2019, a decline of 0.1% from 2018. This was due to a decline in ATM withdrawals in the year, indicating the growing preference for other digital channels.
Mobile Payments
In Thailand, mobile network operators have a dominant share of the mobile money subscriber base (almost 98%). Of the three major mobile network operators – Total Access Communication (DTAC), TrueMove and Advanced Info Service (AIS) – the latter pair dominate the mobile-money segment.
Profit Pool
Thailand's credit cards market maintains a healthy profit pool with pre-tax profits estimated at $1.06 billion for 2019, compared to $912 million in 2018. The growth was fuelled by growth in billed volume and outstandings.
Card Networks
There were an estimated 13.9 million Visa-branded credit cards in issue at the end of 2019. Visa had an estimated market share of 58% in the number of cards and 68% in billed volume. Visa dominates the debit cards market in Thailand with about 72% market share.
Key Retail Banks and Issuers
The banking landscape in Thailand is composed predominantly of domestic issuers. Foreign banks (such as Citibank) and financial institutions (such as AEON Thana Sinsap, controlled by a Japanese firm) have a presence but enjoy far less market share.
Acquiring and Processing
Merchant acquiring in Thailand is relatively consolidated as several banks have less appetite for the acquiring business due to the low margins. KBank and Bangkok Bank dominate the acquiring market, collectively accounting for more than half of the total market share.
Online Acquiring
Along with Singapore, Thailand is the leading B2C e-commerce market in Southeast Asia in terms of sales and is projected to maintain this rank through 2025 due to a strong double-digit growth rate.
Regulatory and Markets Information
Financial Sector Master Plan Phase IV is being implemented during the 2019-21 period and involves five key frameworks, including the creation of an interoperable infrastructure.
Thailand Payments Trends | Entities Referenced
2C2P
AEON Credit Service
AEON Thana Sinsap
Alibaba Group
AliPay
American Express
Amway
ASEANPay
AsiaPay
AsiaPay
Bangkok Bank
Bank of Ayudhya
Bank of China
Bank of Thailand
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
BC Global
BeWallet.
Big C
Big Camera
Caf&Aelig; Amazon
Carrefour
Citibank
DinaCard
Diners Club
Discover
Emporium,
EmQuartier
Facebook
FitbitPay
Galeries Lafayette
Grab
Harrods
IT City
JCB
JD Central
Jusco
KAITAI Technology
Kasikornbank
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Krungsri Bank
Krungsri Consumer Finance Group
Krungthai Card
Lazada
LINE
Liquid Group
Makro
Mastercard.
MaxValu
Merchant iPay
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
National Interbank Management and Exchange
Nium
PAObank
Paragon Mall
PayDollar
PayPal
PaysBuy
Peninsula Bangkok hotel
PizzaHut
Power Buy
PromptCard
PromptPay
Razer
Revolut
Ripple
RuPay
Samyan Mitrtown
SCB
Selfridges
Shopee
Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Takashimaya
SiamPay
Stock Exchange of Thailand
TaradPay.
Tesco Lotus
Thai Airways
Thai Airways
ThaiePay
Thailand Post
The Mall
The Waldorf Astoria
Tourism Authority of Thailand
Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia
UnionPay International
Visa
WeChat Pay
Wooricard
WorldPay
MORE ASIA-PACIFIC CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORTS
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