Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, today announced contactless payments are on the rise in Thailand with Visa cardholders making 3.8 million tap to pay transactions in June 2021, more than double the same period last year.
The top five merchant categories where Thai consumers prefer to use Visa contactless cards are petrol stations, grocery stores, fast food, restaurants, and transportation.
Suripong Tantiyanon, Country Manager, Visa Thailand, said: “The current environment is prompting consumers to adopt contactless payments at unprecedented rates. Contactless cards were first introduced to Thailand in 2008 and we reached two million taps in a month for the first time in September 2020. The growth since then has been phenomenal as contactless cards provide consumers and businesses with a fast, secure and safe way to pay during the pandemic.”
According to a recent Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes study, nearly seven in ten Thai consumers (68%) find one of the top benefits of using contactless cards is they feel safe from COVID-19 infection. In addition, nearly one in four (23%) Thai consumers said they started to use contactless card, including credit, debit or prepaid cards, for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At Visa we’re focused on growing the usage and acceptance of contactless payments across Thailand. We envisage a country where people commuting to work or buying a bottle of water in a convenience store do so without having to fumble for coins or seeing bank notes exchange hands. This is just one way innovation can play a vital role in allowing businesses to operate and economies to thrive,” concluded Suripong.
