Thailand – FinTech Ranking

Binance joint venture granted licenses in Thailand to open regulated exchange

Elena Kondrashkina — Sat, 27 May 2023 02:27:00 +0000

Gulf Binance, a joint venture between Binance and Gulf Innova, has obtained licenses from Thailand’s Ministry of Finance to become a digital asset operator regulated by the country’s SEC.

The partnership aims to launch a digital asset exchange and broker in Thailand by Q4 2023.

“Local users can expect access to a trusted and regulated service that prioritizes user security alongside compliance with local regulations,” said Richard Teng, head of Asia, Europe, and MENA at Binance, in a statement.

Thailand offers tax breaks for companies issuing investment tokens

Elena Kondrashkina — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 03:12:00 +0000

Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday agreed to waive corporate income tax and value-added tax for companies that issue digital tokens for investment, a government spokeswoman said.

Companies will have access to alternative ways of raising capital through investment tokens in addition to traditional methods like debentures, Rachada Dhnadirek told reporters at a news conference.

Thailand’s SEC issues rules on management of digital wallets for custody of digital assets and keys

Elena Kondrashkina — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 00:50:00 +0000

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued regulations requiring digital asset business operators that provide custody of clients’ digital assets to establish a digital wallet management system to accommodate efficient custody of digital assets and keys and ensure safety of clients’ assets.

The regulations have taken effect since 16 January 2023. Pursuant to the transitional provisions, digital asset business operators who had provided custody of clients’ assets prior to the effective date of the regulations are required to fully comply within six months as from the effective date.

Bank of Thailand to allow first virtual banks by 2025

Elena Kondrashkina — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 00:45:00 +0000

Bank of Thailand has disclosed plans to allow virtual banks to operate in the country for the first time. Financial firms will be able to provide services by 2025, a Bloomberg report shows.

The Bank of Thailand will issue three different licenses for interested companies by 2024. There are at least 10 parties interested in granting permissions, the report states.

Ascend Money Becomes Thailand’s First Fintech Unicorn

Elena Kondrashkina — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 15:36:18 +0000

Ascend Money, has hit US$1.5 billion valuation following its latest US$150 million funding, making it Thailand’s first fintech unicorn.

The funds will be used to grow the user base of its e-wallet application; TrueMoney Wallet and to expand digital financial services, including digital lending, digital investment and cross-border remittances across Southeast Asia.

US-based investment firm Bow Wave Capital Management has contributed to this round, joining Charoen Pokphand Group and Ant Group.

Singapore and Thailand Launch World’s First Linkage of Real-time Payment Systems

Elena Kondrashkina — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 10:49:50 +0000

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) today launched the linkage of Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay real-time retail payment systems. The first of its kind globally, the linkage is the culmination of several years of extensive collaboration between MAS and BOT, both countries’ payment system operators, bankers’ associations, and participating banks.

Customers of participating banks in Singapore and Thailand will be able to transfer funds of up to S$1,000 or THB25,000 daily across the two countries, using just a mobile number. There will be no need to populate information fields such as the recipient’s full name and bank account details, as with normal remittance solutions. The funds will flow seamlessly and securely between customers’ accounts in Singapore and Thailand. The experience will be similar to how domestic PayNow and PromptPay transfers are made today, in which senders can use their mobile banking or payment applications to initiate fund transfers instantly and securely, at any time of the day. The transfers will be completed within a matter of minutes, representing a marked improvement over the average of 1-2 working days needed by most cross-border remittance solutions.

Red more: MAS

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Siam Bank Launches $50M Blockchain Fund

Elena Kondrashkina — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 18:21:10 +0000

SCB 10X, Siam Commercial Bank’s venture capital arm, said it has launched a $50 million fund to invest in blockchain, digital asset and decentralized finance (DeFi) startups.

The fund will focus on global early- and growth-stage companies that will shape the next generation of financial services and digital systems, the venture capital arm of Thailand’s oldest bank announced.

Singapore and Thailand to Enable Cross Border Payments Using Only Mobile Numbers in 2021

Elena Kondrashkina — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 12:06:00 +0000

During the Singapore Fintech Festival 2020, Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that the regulator has made significant headway in the linkage between Singapore’s and Thailand’s national payment systems; PayNow and PromptPay respectively.

Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank of Thailand embarked on this journey three years ago, and it is anticipated that by mid-2021 anyone registered with PayNow or PromptPay will be able to send money from Singapore to Thailand or vice versa, using just their mobile numbers. Ravi added that this will be secure, instant and at competitive rates at any time of the day.

LINE Launches “Social Banking” Platform with Thailand’s KASIKORNBANK

Elena Kondrashkina — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:46:00 +0000

Social media platform and messaging app LINE has launched LINE BK which is powered by KASIKORNBANK, for the first “social banking” platform in Thailand. LINE’s push into financial services in Thailand is far from its first, in Taiwan, LINE was among one of the three approved by the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan to operate a virtual bank.

This new platform allows customers to transfer money, open savings accounts, apply for loans as well as make payments from the LINE app.

Bank of Thailand issues digital loan rules

Elena Kondrashkina — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 09:45:00 +0000

The Bank of Thailand has issued digital personal loan regulations, paving a path for consumers with no financial statements to better access financial services.

The central bank issued a circular to business operators that want to apply for digital loan business licences to incorporate alternative data for digital personal loan analysis apart from the existing use of financial documents.

Alternative data includes payment of utilities such as water, electricity or telephone bills and income or financial behaviour of online shopping.

Thailand – FinTech Ranking

Binance joint venture granted licenses in Thailand to open regulated exchange

Read more: The Block

Thailand offers tax breaks for companies issuing investment tokens

Read more: Reuters

Thailand’s SEC issues rules on management of digital wallets for custody of digital assets and keys

Read more: The Securities and Exchange Commission

Bank of Thailand to allow first virtual banks by 2025

Read more: Cointelegraph

Ascend Money Becomes Thailand’s First Fintech Unicorn

Read more: Fintech News Singapore