BOT, NBTC to bolster cybersecurity

BOT Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said the central bank would cooperate with the NBTC in many areas, especially security and consumer protection, because the consumers in the digital era were more welcoming of technology and spent a short time learning how to use services.
Mobile is a key channel for people nowadays to access financial services, reflecting the significant growth of mobile banking and e-wallet use in Thailand, he said.
There are about 10 million mobile-banking users in Thailand, with their numbers growing 73 per cent on average in each of the past five years, he said.
The arrival of PromptPay will increase the number of mobile payments, he added.
“Mobile banking will not only lead to opportunities but also pose new challenges to regulators,” he said.
Payment services will be more varied and more complicated, and many consumers may not understand how to manage the risk from their use, he said, making cybersecurity more important to regulators.
Veerathai said e-wallet operators were required to apply for a licence from the BOT, with operators to be regulated under the Payment System Act. E-wallet money will be protected under the act.
With the NBTC handling technical aspects, the two parties will focus on the efficiency of cybersecurity and the biometrics of mobile users in order to prevent fraud.
Both regulators will provide consumers using smart gadgets with improved financial literacy and risk-management knowledge.
Takorn Tantasith, secretary general of the NTBC, said smartphone usage had increased since Thailand implemented third-generation cellular technology in 2013. Of the nearly 77.5 million mobile phones in use in the country, 38 million are smartphones.
Last year there were 170 million mobile-phone subscriptions, of which almost 103 million were active. The average monthly bill was Bt232, meaning telecommunication operators made a combined Bt300 billion in 2015, Takorn said.
To help ensure the security of mobile users such as those using PromptPay, the NBTC will focus on two areas including the need for mobile numbers registered for PromptPay being accurate. E-wallet us will also be focused on because of mobile subscribers at present not only paying for airtime but also for purchases on applications and via e-commerce.
Separately, Veerathai said payment systems were a factor for financial connectivity among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand at the “CLMVT Forum” yesterday.
He said that under the National E-Payment Plan, Thailand was building a new retail electronic-payment infrastructure that could be used to promote payment-systems connectivity for the Asean Economic Community in general and for the CLMVT subregion in particular.
“Under the Asean Payment Road Map, our shared vision is to promote secure and efficient electronic payment channels, which will significantly lower business costs, reduce payment uncertainty, pave the way for growing e-commerce and promote financial inclusion,” he said.
In light of this, the BOT is keen to collaborate with its regional counterparts to promote payment-systems connectivity within the region, he added.
“Take the payment systems, for instance. Currently, different legacy systems among our countries mean that we are not able to ‘talk’ with one another as seamlessly as we wish,” he said.
 “Adhering to the same standards, such as on financial messaging schemes, can help overcome this challenge.
“At this stage, the work to achieve harmonisation on diverse aspects of banking businesses is under way and, if completed, will make financial transactions within the region much easier.”