- Thailand’s oldest bank SCB forms a partnership to improve cross-border payment efficiency.
- The new payment system will run on Stellar.
Thailand’s largest bank the Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has been focused on developing its cross-border payments for a while. In its most recent endeavor, the bank has chosen to join forces with a Singapore-based fintech company to bring this objective to life.
Improving remittance payment efficiency to Thailand
The SCB announced a partnership with blockchain firm Lightnet Group to bolster cross-border payment capabilities. The bank explained that the new collaboration would facilitate quick and cheap payments from South Korea to Thailand, per an official press release.
SCB will operate as a real-time money distribution center, using PromptPay, a government-sponsored interbank transfer service, to send money to customers of over 24 banks across the country. SCB believes that the new service will improve transaction speed and security while also cutting down on costs. Bolstering its cross-border payment capabilities will also help the bank meet the growing demand for cross-border payments.
Speaking on the development, Tridbodi Arunanondchai, Ligntnet’s group chief executive and Vice Chairman, explained that it was a perfect fit with the company’s objective to provide efficient and low-cost payment services. The firm has made significant progress, taking advantage of the Stellar network to facilitate easy remittances.
“The system is an effective innovation for decentralized data storage centers that will transform digital payment models in the future. With this cutting-edge technology, cross-border transfers are affordable, allowing financial inclusivity for workforces located overseas, particularly those from Southeast Asia,” he said.
Arunanondchai also added that the firm plans to improve its network of customers and partners in the future. Thanks to a recent $31.2 million Series A investment, they are on the fast track to getting that done.
Collaborations with Financial Experts
Siam’s focus on improving cross-border payments within Thailand has been notable. Historically, Thailand is a top player in the remittance market. Data from the World Bank reveals over $6 billion is sent down annually.
Despite its volume, it’s also one of the costliest nations to send money to. SCB has been doing its bit to make remittances cheaper for users.
In April, SCB partnered with digital money transfer service and long-term Ripple partner Azimo for an instant cross-border payment service. The partnership aims to make fund transfers cheaper and more effective, with both firms claiming to be able to facilitate transfers from Europe in less than a minute.
Lightnet has also been doing some work to improve payment efficiency across the Asian continent. Last month, the company partnered with Velo Labs Ltd., another Stellar-backed firm, to develop a payment solution for the region.
As a press release explained, both firms had collaborated with VISA on the service. The service is aimed at small and medium-scale businesses, allowing them to access loans and scale their operations. It will use Velo Labs’ $VELO tokens as a security for the financial service. The tokens will be issued on the Stellar network, allowing them to be sent and exchanged in real-time.
