Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is on a mission to change the lives of their over 16 million customers. Thailand’s oldest bank has partnered with Ripple to help bring the company into the digital age and create SCB Easy—a mobile application that runs on Ripple to deliver instant, low-cost cross-border payments.
Today, SCB unveiled its global strategy for cross-border payments, and the launch of Outward Remittance Service via SCB EASY developed in partnership with Ripple. Following approval to exit the Bank of Thailand (BoT) regulatory sandbox, SCB is now launching a new Outward Remittance Service via SCB EASY to its retail customers across Thailand.
Eight of the top ten countries using mobile payments can be found in Asia. According to a recent survey conducted by PwC, a staggering 86% of the population in China use mobile payment apps and in Thailand, it’s as high as 67% of the population. As the overseas workforce and tourism continue to grow in the region, people continue to look for better ways to send and receive funds across borders.
“It is so difficult to send and receive money today. People must physically go to a bank branch, fill out long and complicated forms and wait for payments to be received—with no transparency. With our service, their loved ones from abroad can transfer payment and receive money immediately,” said SCB’s SVP of Commercial Banking, Arthit Sriumporn.
On-stage at Swell, Sriumporn presented a demo of the SCB Easy app and within 40 seconds, the money was in the recipient’s bank account. SCB’s partnership with Ripple fulfills their customers’ demands for cross-border payments that are low-cost, fast and certain and provide a better customer experience. This is just the beginning for SCB and Ripple’s journey together.
SCB aims to improve cross-border payments and expand its USD, GBP, EUR, and SGD remittance service across twelve countries, including the United Kingdom, USA, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, and Portugal. “One connection equals many possibilities,” explained Sriumporn.
In addition, the bank is working with Ripple to offer cross-border EMVCo QR payments. QR payments are a popular payment method across Southeast Asia, but are typically only used within the local areas. By leveraging this capability, SCB is able to not only offer their customers remittance services, but also micro-payment services as well.
“Imagine you are a tourist coming to Thailand, and you can use your home country mobile application to scan for payment and eliminate the need to exchange for local currency. You can use your mobile app, scan the QR payment and receive goods right away.”
Sriumporn shared that these services and products “are helping us put a smile on our customers faces. We are changing lives with Ripple.”
If you’re interested in learning how RippleNet can help better serve your customers, contact us.
Updated from original post on April 28, 2020.