Thailand's Fintech Comes of Age

Source: Bangkok Post

While the Covid-19 pandemic has adversely disrupted many industries globally, it has positively disrupted the finance sector -- especially in accelerating the evolution of FinTech solutions.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand is one of the region's biggest proponents of these trends due to the pandemic's disruptive effects creating a renaissance in FinTech payments in the nation. This, together with consumer behaviors which are evolving along digital lines and more societal sections looking for safer options, has positioned the country to lead the way in enhancing more digital facilities to promote greater financial inclusion in line with Thailand 4.0's financial inclusion ambitions.

Even before the pandemic, Thailand has been working strongly to encourage the use of digital payment methods between both consumers and businesses. Covid-19 further pushed the envelope; the ongoing shifts toward e-commerce, digital payments (including contactless), and instant payments have all been significantly boosted during the pandemic with real-time payments surging by 104 percent.