Siam Commercial Bank is the first in Thailand to join SWIFT initiative
Siam Commercial Bank is the first bank in Thailand to sign up for the SWIFT global payments system, joining over 70 other leading banks across the world.
The initiative that opened in January is the biggest advance in 30 years, delivering a new standard for cross-border payments, the bank said.
The Thai economy exports almost 70 per cent of the country's economic output, with computers, integrated circuits, delivery trucks and cars being the top exports.
Trade ties with the Asean region are particularly strong as the country makes 25 per cent of its exports within Asean. SWIFT aims to enhance cross-border payments by offering payments that are faster, more transparent and fully traceable, providing the potential to support further development of Thailand's trade economy.
Pipat Assamongkol, first executive vice president of Global Transaction Services Division, Commercial Banking Solutions Function Siam Commercial Bank said: "As our customers are expanding to more international markets, they are looking at performing cross-border payment as efficiently and transparently as possible.
“With SWIFT gpi, we will be able to provide our customers with transaction status transparency throughout the payment chain and for associated fees. We strongly believe that this will bring tremendous value to Thai corporates."
Sharon Toh, the head of Asean SWIFT said: "We are delighted to have Siam Commercial Bank as the first Thai bank joining gpi. We are confident the initiative will highly benefit corporates in Thailand, especially in the context of Asean integration".
SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative and the world's leading provider of secure financial messaging services.
