Mastercard begins push on debit card e-commerce in Thailand

Mastercard has partnered with Thailand’s local switch company, the National Interbank Transaction Management and Exchange (ITMX), to widen e-commerce acceptance of Thai debit cards in the country. 
Through this partnership, Mastercard has become the first global payment gateway to connect directly with ITMX. The integration allows Mastercard’s payment gateway services to connect global and local merchants seamlessly to millions of debit cardholders in Thailand.
Apart from connectivity, this development will also enable enriched security, efficiency and increased scale that will especially benefit merchants with large transaction volumes originating from Thailand, according to a release on Tuesday.
Kasikornbank will be first bank to provide this service and its merchants will benefit from this integration by being able to accept domestic debit cards, said the release.
Wanna Noparbhorn, managing director of National ITMX, said: “National ITMX, as a service provider of local switching systems for local debit card, is pleased to join forces with Mastercard to connect the company’s platform with Mastercard’s payment gateway services in order to support e-commerce payments using local debit cards.
“By using Mastercard’s payment gateway services through the National ITMX and member banks, merchants can be assured of an international standard of security that complies with Bank of Thailand regulations. This service provides merchants and customers with a more convenient way to make online purchases. It will also lower implementation costs for member banks, and support the government’s national e-payments and cashless society agenda.”
National ITMX (National Interbank Transaction Management and Exchange), established by the Thai Bankers’ Association under direction of the Payment System Committee (PSC) governed by Bank of Thailand (BOT), is a developer and service provider for the electronic payment infrastructure of Thailand.