THAILAND LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Wongsakrit Khajangson, Panupan Udomsuvannakul, Koraphot Jirachocksubsin and Pitchaya Roongroajsataporn, Chandler Mori Hamad a
1. Fintech Market 1.1 Evolution of the Fintech Market
tral banks of four other ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore), has entered into co-operation frameworks to expand fast cross- border payment linkages, including through Project Nexus. These initiatives seek to standardise con - nections between domestic instant payment sys - tems (IPS) and enable near-real-time cross-border transfers, supporting both consumer payments and regional trade. In late 2025 and into 2026, Thailand also deepened bilateral QR linkages (eg, with China’s Weixin Pay/Ali - pay and UnionPay QR) and advanced ASEAN Region - al Payment Connectivity efforts, paving the way for wider real-time cross-border retail payments in 2026, including the official launch of Thailand–China cross- border QR payment acceptance for Chinese tourists paying Thai merchants in RMB and Thai users paying in CNY via linked wallets. Project Nexus: Enhancing Cross-Border Payments Project Nexus is a groundbreaking initiative managed by the Nexus Scheme Organisation and supported by the Bank for International Settlements. The project seeks to create a scalable and interoperable network for instant cross-border payments across ASEAN and potentially beyond. Instead of requiring a pay - ment system operator to build custom connections for every new country, the operator only needs to make a single connection to the Nexus platform. Project Nexus has global ambitions, aiming to con - nect multiple domestic IPS to form a scalable global network. The project aligns with the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments, which seeks to make instant payments affordable and easy for users across participating countries. The project has already seen significant progress, with the Reserve Bank of India joining the initiative and expanding the potential user base to India’s Unified Payments Interface, the world’s largest IPS. These developments are expected to complement Thailand’s PromptPay/Thai QR cross- border use cases as Nexus moves from pilot phases towards initial production linkages in 2026. In summary, Project Nexus represents a significant step forward in the quest to enhance cross-border payments, leveraging innovative technology and inter -
Thailand is a pioneer in ASEAN in the adoption of 5G technology to improve and expand the country’s capacity for deep technology, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, robotics, cloud computing and machine learning. As a result of the proactive development of its information and commu - nications technology (ICT) facilities and the regulatory environment, Thailand is one of the fastest-growing fintech markets in ASEAN and currently has one of the world’s largest consumer bases for fintech mobile banking. According to the latest data from the Bank of Thailand (BOT), published as of the time of writing of this article (January 2026), the volume of e-payments in Thailand has continued to increase consistently. Internet and mobile banking remain the most popular e-payment channels, and transaction volumes continued to climb through October 2025 (per BOT statistics). Prompt - Pay and Thai QR Code rails continued to domi - nate account-to-account (A2A) payments in 2025, accounting for an estimated ~44% of e-commerce transaction value and ~41% of point-of-sale value, underscoring Thailand’s rapid shift away from cash as we enter 2026. Developing Accessibility The Thai government continues to promote fintech adoption through enhanced access to digital govern - ment and payment infrastructures. The BOT has col - laborated with global card network service providers to create the “Thai QR Code”, which facilitates pay - ments via debit cards, credit cards, bank-account- based e-wallets and e-payments, with the QR plat - form serving as a key interoperability layer. Cashless and contactless payment systems are now firmly embedded in everyday commercial activity in Thailand, driven by widespread smartphone usage, regulatory support for electronic payments and the expansion of domestic real-time payment rails. Elec - tronic transactions have become the default method for retail payments across many sectors, ranging from small merchants to large-scale commercial platforms. At the regional level, the BOT, together with the cen -
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