Major Thai Bank to Test Visa Blockchain Solution for Cross-Border Payments

Thailand’s fourth largest bank, Kasikornbank, has recently joined the blockchain-based Visa B2B Connect program for cross-border payments, local newspaper The Nation reported Thursday, September 20.

According to The Nation, Kasikornbank is the “first” bank in the country to use the technology, setting the stage for a more widespread use of blockchain in the country’s banking sector.

Suripong Tantiyanon, Visa’s country manager in Thailand, expressed his opinion on the partnership, noting that Visa B2B will support developments in “security, governance, and distributed ledger technology.”

According to senior vice president for Kasikornbank Siriporn Wongtriphop, using blockchain for international payments will help his company become "the leader in the industry" due to the additional security for payments.

As per Visa’s website, B2B Connect was launched back in 2017 to process corporate cross-border payments. The U.S. Commerce Bank, South Korea’s Shinhan Bank, the Union Bank of Philippines, and the United Overseas Bank in Singapore were mentioned among the first partners that could make direct transactions from one to another via Visa’s B2B technology based on blockchain architecture.

Kasikornbank, formerly known as Thai Farmers Bank, is headquartered in Bangkok. According to Moody’s recent research, Kasikornbank had $96 billion in total assets in March 2018.

As Cointelegraph wrote back in August, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) began allowing local banks to set up subsidiaries for dealing with cryptocurrencies. According to the regulation, Thai banks are allowed to issue digital tokens, provide crypto brokerage services, run crypto-related businesses, and invest in cryptocurrencies through subsidiaries.