Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, today announced a program that makes it easier for Thai social commerce sellers (“sellers”) including small businesses and individual merchants to accept digital payments. The program is aimed at equipping homegrown sellers with the right tools to recover and grow stronger in the future.
Under the “Everyone Speaks Visa” program, Visa has partnered with leading FinTech companies in Thailand including Digio, KBank Global Payment (KGP), Omise, Pay Solution and 2C2P to enable sellers to accept Visa payments. This means sellers will be able to accept Visa credit, debit, and prepaid cards whether they are selling on social media pages, virtual marketplaces or live chat platforms. The program also welcomes large and small businesses alike, who are looking to improve operational efficiency and customer experience with the acceptance of digital payments.
Suripong Tantiyanon, Country Manager for Visa Thailand, said: “Visa has always been a proud supporter of Thai businesses large and small, helping them to grow through technology and payment innovation. We’re acutely aware that support is particularly important right now for smaller players, such as micro-merchants and individual sellers, as the ecosystem continues to settle into a new normal. So that’s why we are leveraging the power of our network to bring together leading FinTechs to help this untapped segment gain access to digital payment platforms that are fast, convenient and secure.”
In Asia Pacific, eCommerce orders for web-only retailers grew by 23% year-on-year between March 22 to April 4. At the same time, store-based retailers saw their online orders surge by 82% during the same period as a result of store closures, limited in-store inventory and stay at home orders.
In Thailand, a Study conducted by Visa found that more than half of Thai consumers (54 per cent) said they have a more positive experience shopping online than shopping at a physical store. In addition, 67 per cent of Thai consumers surveyed said they are likely to increase their use of eCommerce. At the same time, 7 in 10 (69 per cent) Thais admitted that they are less likely to go back to cash, even after the pandemic ends, citing preference of credit cards, debit cards and mobile apps.
In 2019, over 34 million people in Thailand purchased consumer goods online, with a total market value of around 137 billion baht ($4.31 billion). Of all the payment methods, credit card is the most preferred (32 percent), followed by e-Wallet (25 per cent), bank transfer (20 per cent), cash (12 per cent) and others (11 per cent).
From today, sellers will be able to begin a simple onboarding process through Visa Thailand’s website. Sellers will be able to select which FinTech to partner with and once necessary documents are submitted they can begin accepting Visa payments within one day. The program coincides with the launch of an online marketing campaign that will highlight the benefits of accepting Visa, including speed, convenience and security for both sellers and buyers.
To encourage sellers to adopt digital payments, Visa is giving a 5,000-baht reward at the end of each month to the top 20 new sellers with the highest number of digital payment transactions. The program runs from today to December 2020.
“While today’s challenges may be new, Visa has been solving payment pain points for buyers and sellers for over 60 years. Collectively, our business and our partners are laser-focused on leading economic recovery efforts in the weeks and months ahead, helping businesses and individuals everywhere navigate through these common challenges. These small and individual businesses are the backbone of the Thai economy. We believe in the power of Visa’s network as a force for good, which is why we’re excited to launch the “Everyone Speaks Visa” program,” Suripong concluded.
