Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Bank of Thailand have launched a cross-border QR payment linkage, allowing consumers and merchants in both countries to send and receive payments instantly through a QR code across borders.
Bank of Thailand (BoT) deputy governor Ronadol Numnonda said the bank recognizes the significance of cross-border payment linkages and has continuously pursued such initiatives. The project is scheduled to take place in three phases. The first phase that was launched on Friday linked real-time retail payment systems of the Retail Payments Platform (RPP)/DuitNow in Malaysia and PromptPay in Thailand.
Under the first phase, users in Thailand can use their mobile payment applications to scan DuitNow QR codes to make payments to merchants in Malaysia, including online transactions. In phase two, users in Malaysia can use mobile payment apps to scan Thai QR codes to make payments to merchants in Thailand. This phase is expected to start in the fourth quarter this year.
RPP and PromptPay are fast payment systems that send payments to a recipient’s account instantly. DuitNow QR is Malaysia’s national QR solution, allowing merchants to accept payments from customers using participating banks and e-wallet operators via a unified QR code. (NNT)