The Bank of Thailand and the State Bank of Vietnam have launched an interoperable cross-border payments system that will enable Thai visitors to Vietnam and Vietnamese visitors to Thailand to make QR code-based payments for goods and services using their mobile banking app.

At launch the service will support transactions made in either country by customers of Thailand’s Bangkok Bank and of Vietnam’s TP Bank, BIDV and Sacombank.

“With this cross-border QR payment service customers can use the Bangkok Bank mobile banking application to scan and pay for goods in Vietnam, while customers of Vietnam banks that participate in the service can pay for products and services in Thailand with their respective bank apps,” Bangkok Bank explains.

“This service is safe and convenient, allowing customers to pay in their home currency with lower exchange rate fees than they would get by paying by credit or debit card.”

“In the first phase, merchants in Vietnam that accept Bangkok Bank mobile banking’s QR payment will be those in tourist destinations or economic centres such as Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Mui Ne, as well as leading local coffee shops in Vietnam,” the bank says.

“In the initial stage, cross-border QR payments will meet the needs of specific groups such as Vietnamese who are working in Thailand or Thais who are working in Vietnam, including online shopping between countries,” adds Bangkok Bank executive director Charamporn Jotikasthira.

“We believe that in the future, when the Covid-19 situation eases, overseas travel will resume and regional travel will start first, particularly in countries that have efficient systems to manage and control the spread of Covid-19, such as Thailand and Vietnam.

“Therefore, we are confident that the cross-border QR payment service via Bangkok Bank mobile banking will expand quickly and be available for wider use in the future.”

Banks including the Vietcombank, Bank of Ayudhya, CIMB Thai Bank, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank “have expressed their interests to join the project as service banks in the near future,” according to BIDV.

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