I'm behind the curve on this kind of stuff, but it's interesting to see what's happening, and coming.

Some THAILAND specific references in the linked article.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/02/the-incredibly-brilliant-way-people-are-now-buying-things-in-asia/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-technology%3Ahomepage%2Fcard

On the surface, this alternative sounds a lot like Apple Pay (or Samsung Pay, or Android Pay, etc.). But conducting real-life and online transactions through messaging apps stands to change retail like none of these other services have. What we're seeing in Asia is the rise of mobile payments that run primarily on software, not hardware as we've tried to implement here in the United States. And that simple distinction may be the key to everything from accelerating the spread of mobile payments to unlocking deep, digital interactions with customers in brick-and-mortar stores to democratizing e-commerce away from giant online businesses like Amazon.

Edited June 4, 201610 yr by Jingthing

In Thailand, LINE has LINEPay, but apparently only for Thai people (because you have to enter your Thai ID card # during the registration process). That's a pity, because I'd like to use this payment method.