THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

MasterCard to add to services via real-time payments hub

MasterCard to add to services via real-time payments hub

MasterCard said it plans to deliver a growing suite of digital payment services across the Asia-Pacific region through its regional real-time payments hub, with data centres in Thailand and Singapore.

This hub will be offered as a managed service that will enable the faster delivery of new and innovative real-time payments services, responding to the needs of banks, businesses and consumers across the Asia Pacific. This aligns with the Thai government’s ambitious Thailand 4.0 vision and the Bank of Thailand’s Payment Systems Roadmap, both of which prioritise the establishment of interoperable digital payments infrastructure.
As part of its commitment, MasterCard has announced that it will continue to extend innovative payments applications and value-added services such as Pay by Account, which will enable consumers to make payments directly from their accounts at eligible domestic and international MasterCard contactless and QR acceptance points.
Pay by Account helps banks enhance services offered through digital banking, providing consumers with choice and convenience, including for small everyday payments, underpinned by the trust and security offered by the bank and MasterCard.
MasterCard has a long track record of providing payments services in Asia Pacific, and now, through its acquisition of Vocalink, it provides account-based real-time payments infrastructure to multiple markets in the region. In Singapore, Vocalink has provided the technology behind FAST since 2014, and in Thailand, it has licensed its technology to Thailand’s local switch company, National Interbank Transaction Management and Exchange (ITMX), and was also a strategic partner for the launch of PromptPay in 2017.
PromptPay enables users to pay directly from their bank account using the recipient’s mobile phone number or national ID. According to the latest figures from the Bank of Thailand, PromptPay has had 48 million registrations since its launch. In February 2019, MasterCard also became the first company to partner with the National ITMX to widen the e-commerce acceptance of Thai debit cards in Thailand.
Real-time payments have become increasingly popular around the world for both businesses and consumers, offering an effective, secure and efficient way to send and receive money. As funds are immediately available once the transaction is approved, real-time payments help to improve cash flow, deliver operational improvements, data transparency and accuracy. A global MasterCard survey showed that 85 per cent of financial institutions see real-time payments as a solution to improving efficiencies in the payment system

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