Payments made easier for travelers between HK and Thailand

The cross-border QR payment between Hong Kong's Fast Payment System and Thailand's PromptPay was launched yesterday, providing a fast, secure and easily accessible cross-border retail payment service to people traveling between Hong Kong and Thailand.

Announcing the initiative with the Bank of Thailand, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said this payment connectivity will provide travelers with greater convenience, hence supporting tourism and economic activities between two areas.

The service will allow Hongkongers visiting Thailand to make payments with the FPS, while Thai tourists in Hong Kong can use PromptPay at merchants accepting the FPS, by simply scanning the QR codes displayed by merchants with their mobile payment applications.

With the service, users will benefit from an additional payment means while merchants will be able to receive their funds immediately, and it will serve as a catalyst for more collaborations on financial innovations in the coming years, according to the authority.

The authority's deputy chief executive Howard Lee Tat-chi earlier said Thailand was chosen as the partner because of its rich experiences in cross-border payment cooperation, and it is also one of the most popular tourist destinations for Hongkongers.

Participating the service are seven banks - Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of Communications (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia, Citibank, Fubon Bank (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, and HSBC - as well as two non-bank stored value facilities Tap&Go and Octopus from Hong Kong, and three commercial banks from Thailand.

Hong Kong travelers can make a maximum payment of HK$10,000 per account per day, while Thai travelers can spend up to 100,000 baht per purchase and 500,000 baht per day with the service.

The authority's chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said the launch of the service marks an important milestone to the SAR's FPS in expanding its usage to cross-border payments.

The governor of the BOT, Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, also described this collaboration as an important milestone in Thailand's digitalization efforts and demonstrates a commitment in creating more efficient and inclusive cross-border payments in the region.

"This linkage will bring tangible benefits not only to the 1.5 million tourists from these two economies, but also to merchants," Suthiwartnarueput said.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com