Thailand, Vietnam Launch Cross-Border QR Code Link

This story comes from Regulation Asia and summarizes the March 26 launch of a cross-border retail QR code payment initiative between the central banks of Thailand and Vietnam. 

There is ongoing collaboration between ASEAN nations for the past several years vis-à-vis payments initiatives, so this is the first of a likely stream of similar launches over the next few years. 

‘In the first phase of the project, tourists from Thailand will be able to make QR payments using their mobile phones to pay for goods and services in Vietnam and vice versa. Tourist flows between the two countries totalled around 1.5 million in 2019….The two central banks said Thai tourists using Bangkok Bank’s mobile banking app can scan ‘Viet QR Codes’ to pay for goods and services at merchants of Vietnam’s TP Bank and BIDV.  Additionally, tourists from…