Central banks Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) have recently launched a cross-border QR payment linkage, which will eventually enable consumers and merchants in both Malaysia and Thailand to make and receive instant cross-border QR code payments.
The three-phase project, which began in June last year, is aimed at linking the real-time retail payment systems of RPP / DuitNow in Malaysia and PromptPay in Thailand. So far, the first phase is complete, allowing consumers in Thailand to use their mobile payment apps to scan DuitNow QR codes to pay merchants in Malaysia including for online cross-border e-commerce transactions.
Under phase two, expected to complete in the last quarter of this year, consumers in Malaysia will similarly be able to use their mobile payment apps to scan Thai QR codes to pay merchants in Thailand.
Joint Press Release Launch of the Cross-Border QR Payment Linkage between Malaysia and Thailand pic.twitter.com/IGmycFNQ98
— BERNAMA (@bernamadotcom) June 18, 2021
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The final phase, expected to go live in the fourth quarter of 2022, will enable cross-border remittance, allowing users in both countries to make real-time fund transfers conveniently by referencing the mobile phone number of the recipient.
This Malaysia-Thailand collaboration is apparently part of the ongoing ASEAN Payment Connectivity initiative, which is aimed at promoting regional financial integration through increased efficiency, reduced costs, and improved user experience for cross-border payments.
The linkage project has CIMB Thai Bank and Public Bank Berhad as its first two participating banks, with more payment service providers expected to sign up in the future.
As mentioned before, DuitNow QR is our country’s national QR standard, which enables cashless and contactless payments from users of any participating bank and e-wallet in the DuitNow ecosystem.
(Source: Bank Negara Malaysia. Image: Google Street View.)
