The Thailandese Siam Commercial Bank has partnered with real-time gross settlement system Ripple.
Ripple made this announcement via a tweet, stating that “Faster, low-cost payments are changing the lives of @scb_thailand’s over 16 million customers.”
Faster, low-cost #payments are changing the lives of @scb_thailand’s over 16 million customers. Read about our partnership and the SCB Easy mobile app that #RunsOnRipple. #SwellbyRipple https://t.co/ePSAuT60tj
— Ripple (@Ripple) January 8, 2020
The partnership is aimed at bringing digitalization to Thailand. And improve the ease of carrying out financial transactions for 16+ million customers. SCB plans to achieve this with the launch of its app SCB Easy. An application that is powered by Ripple and aimed at ensuring fast, seamless, low-cost, cross-border payments.
Speaking at Swell, SVP of Siam, Arthit Sriumporn, talked about how the bank has over the past 111 years provided its customers with top-notch banking services. In his own words, the bank brings “happiness and smiles to their customers.” Sriumporn also gave a 40 seconds presentation showing the working process of the SCB Easy application.
Still speaking on the partnership, Sriumporn said, “It is so difficult to send and receive money today. People must physically go to a bank branch, fill out long and complicated forms and wait for payments to be received—with no transparency”. He further added that with this app, anyone anywhere in the world can easily “transfer payment and receive money immediately.”
Asia — a ready market for SCB
Asia is one of the top ten countries in the world in terms of mobile payments usage. A survey by PwC further revealed that about 67% of Thailand’s population makes use of mobile payment platforms. As cross-border relations continues to grow, people are looking for better means to transfer funds across the globe. SCB’s partnership with Ripple is a welcome move.
SCB has great plans this year. The commercial bank has its sights set on the CLMV countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
Alongside the SCB Easy app launch, the bank is planning to offer cross-border EMVCo QR payments. With this feature available, SCB will be able to offer remittance services and micropayment capability. SCB offers its customers’ remittance services and micro-payment activities.
Ripple has given us a breakdown of what to expect in 2020. The company also plans to fight fake volumes this year.
