Partnering with leading financial services companies, the CBDC pilot will be launched by the Bank of Thailand after being delayed from 2022.
With a recent announcement, the Bank of Thailand has decided to go ahead with a CBDC pilot that was originally scheduled for 2022. Supporting the CBDC pilot would be three leading financial services companies that include Siam Commercial Bank, the payment service provider of Singapore 2C2P, and Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri).
While these companies have provided users with an application that holds a wallet and a QR scanner, they will enroll the services of their staff members as the first users in the retail CBDC pilot. The testing will take place in a regulatory sandbox until August this year.
The CBDC, dubbed the digital baht, could be transferred and used for payments through a QR code after users load the money in their digital wallets.
Managing Director of Krungsri Innovate, Sam Tanskul, stated, “Krungsri has not set a limit in terms of transaction value, focusing instead on stabilizing the payment system, particularly during peak periods. If the payment service is functional and stable, it could help ease the intensity of transactions made under the PromptPay service during peak periods.”
He also said the CBDC could also be used for state welfare payments and that the bank needed to differentiate the digital baht from the PromptPay Service.
The Siam Commercial Bank will also operate similarly, using the help of its staff. While the Bank of Thailand has not committed to an official CBDC, the current retail CBDC pilot is a positive development for the crypto space in the country.