Cashless society seen in three years

[webfact]

Cashless society seen in three years

By JIRAPAN BOONNOON 
The Nation

 

 

BANGKOK: -- THE Thailand E-Payment Trade Association (TEPA) believes Thailand will go cashless within three years. E-money accounts would grow this year by 10 per cent from 40 million or about 60 per cent of the population last year and online payments by 20-30 per cent from Bt170 billion, according to TEPA.

Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa, chairman of TEPA and chief executive of Ascend Group, said the association now counts 16 e-payment service provider members, such as TrueMoney, mPay and Thai Smart Card. 

 

The factors driving customers to open e-money accounts to support their daily routines are the competition by banks and non-bank providers to meet the demands of customers and the potential for more customers to pay for products and services via online channels.

 

The association will help develop the e-payment and e-commerce industry in the country by adopting the Thai QR Code and PromptPay.

 

The Thai QR Code employs a common standard for e-payments in the country. 

 

PromptPay services will include PromptPay e-wallet services on September 15. 

 

TEPA will upgrade the country’s e-payment industry to global standards and boost confidence in e-payment among Thai consumers and retailers.

 

E-transactions will be part of the Thailand 4.0 initiative, which will help businesses reduce operating costs, create confidence for consumers and provide greater convenience for consumers to pay for products and service fees. 

 

Ascend Group has 3 million active TrueMoney accounts now and expects 4 million by the end of the year. Each account-holder spends an average of Bt220 per time to buy products or services Somwang Luangphaiboonsri, country lead at PayPal Thailand, said e-transactions continue to grow because customers have confidence to spend money via e-payment channels in the country, due to the government’s support for e-payments. 

 

PayPal has 210 million active accounts and 17 million active business accounts globally. It enables businesses and customers to make secure cross-border transactions while affording protection to buyers and sellers.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Economy/30325327

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-31

[kotsak]

I'll have what they are having.. 

[canuckamuck]

You  can't even use your debit card for purchases here in most places, and quite a few will also not take a credit card.

I really can't see our village shops using smart pay when a toothless grandpa idles up for a Pepsi bottle of gasohol.  

[BigBadGeordie]

29 minutes ago, kotsak said:

I'll have what they are having.. 

Will you be paying by cash or card for that Sir?

[kotsak]

1 hour ago, BigBadGeordie said:

Will you be paying by cash or card for that Sir?

Bitcoin 

[Thaiwrath]

Seen some expats here who have been living in a 'cashless' society for quite a while now !  

[ksamuiguy]

using my card, any card usually incurs  2 - 3 % added to the total.

OR pay Cash, untraceable and no record of transaction, i have noted that many purchases do not correspond to the shop or company i made the purchase from, strange!

[inThailand]

Is it April's Fools day already?

 

I think they mean corruption will be taking all the cash within 3 years?

 

[watgate]

The great thing about a cashless society is with interest rates at historic lows and almost at zero, when the next recession hits, the central bankers can push rates into negative interest rate territory and the banks can then turn around and charge their customers fees to keep their deposits in the bank. With no cash, the depositor will have little recourse to withdraw their funds since their is no more cash. This will be another way the globalists can get at your money and can bleed you dry at their enrichment.

[Dave67]

I think this is a drastic measure to stop police corruption

Edited August 31, 2017 by Dave67

[BuaBS]

6 hours ago, watgate said:

The great thing about a cashless society is with interest rates at historic lows and almost at zero, when the next recession hits, the central bankers can push rates into negative interest rate territory and the banks can then turn around and charge their customers fees to keep their deposits in the bank. With no cash, the depositor will have little recourse to withdraw their funds since their is no more cash. This will be another way the globalists can get at your money and can bleed you dry at their enrichment.

And that's why there is Gold and bitcoin.

 

Well , if it were true , I'd start looking at plane tickets out of here in 3 years.

Edited August 31, 2017 by BuaBS

[GreasyFingers]

4 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

You  can't even use your debit card for purchases here in most places, and quite a few will also not take a credit card.

I really can't see our village shops using smart pay when a toothless grandpa idles up for a Pepsi bottle of gasohol.  

Yes, it is not Bangkok up here. I do not think that any of the immediate family even have a bank account, let alone a credit card. Imagine buying a 40 baht noodle soup with a card.

[janclaes47]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

THE Thailand E-Payment Trade Association (TEPA) believes Thailand will go cashless within three years

 

 

Please allow me to make a small correction, with the way the current government is been run, it will be more like

 

THE Thailand E-Payment Trade Association (TEPA) believes Thailand will go cashless moneyless within three years.

 

 

[Krataiboy]

The ultimate control tool tailor-made for autocratic governments.  Once money is deposited in a bank, it no longer belongs to the depositor. In effect savers end up totally at the mercy of banks and governments for the means to survive.

 

The effects of eliminating real money - as opposed to the digital variety -  are potentially devastating in countries like Thailand with a majority of low-wage earners and a massive "black" economy which is all that enables millions of them scrape a living.

 

Anybody who doubts this should consider what happened to India recently when the Modi government arbitrarily withdrew some popular banknotes from circulation in a bid to tighten state control of the money supply. There was total chaos, with mile-long queues queues outside banks, millions going hungry because they could not buy food and a big jump in the suicide. Added to which the economy took a sudden nosedive. 

 

There ARE some pros to eliminating cash. But these are arguably outweighed by the cons. At the very least, the Thai people (currently led by a military ruler who apparently considers he can do anything he likes with impunity) should not be led down this potentially slippery slope without their prior consultation and agreement.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Krataiboy

[12DrinkMore]

2 hours ago, watgate said:

The great thing about a cashless society is with interest rates at historic lows and almost at zero, when the next recession hits, the central bankers can push rates into negative interest rate territory and the banks can then turn around and charge their customers fees to keep their deposits in the bank. With no cash, the depositor will have little recourse to withdraw their funds since their is no more cash. This will be another way the globalists can get at your money and can bleed you dry at their enrichment.

 

Yep, I am completely against a cash free society.

 

Not only will it lead to more financial repression, as you have stated, but all income and outgoings will have a traceable electronic trail. Certain transactions in, for example, Pattaya, , I do NOT want to have coming back at me in the future. Probably Lek, Noi, Moo, Nung do not want have accounts showing that Tom, Dick and Harry have been regular visitors.

 

I do not want to be financially profiled. 

 

The tax man would love to have access to all these records. 

 

The finance companies will also take a percentage slice of all purchases. 

 

No thanks.

 

I want to have a choice, and that includes trace-free money in my wallet.

 

[connda]

EMP, Coronal Mass Ejection, or just run of the mill power outages.  The commerce stops and dies.  What a wonderful idea!  

[BuaBS]

But it will be good for Silver ( small purchases ) and gold ( big purchases).

[Beats56]

Ĺisten it will not happen in three years. Still can't use you debit card at  most stores and most old people haven't a clue. Here is a country  that still.uses carbon paper and dot matrix printers. This country has a long way to go to catch up to other countries.

 

 

[gandalf12]

The rest of the world has had degrees of success with the concept but cash still rules supreme 

[Oxx]

The people going on about debit cards seem to be forgetting "PromptPay" whereby anyone with a bank account can send/receive cash based upon either their mobile 'phone or their national ID card.

 

I do wonder how tourists are going to fit into this cashless society, though, and migrant workers.

[rak sa_ngop]

Nothing worse than standing in line watching your coffee go cold while the person in front is trying to pay with his loyalty card/credit card/cashless payment card.

 

So much easier and quicker to pay cash!

[Jip99]

14 minutes ago, rak sa_ngop said:

Nothing worse than standing in line watching your coffee go cold while the person in front is trying to pay with his loyalty card/credit card/cashless payment card.

 

So much easier and quicker to pay cash!

 

 

You have obviously never stood behind the old lady kwitiow vendor in the queue in Makro.

 

First she waits until everything has been scanned through THEN she hunts for her purse THEN she takes out 7,480 Baht's worth of 20 Baht notes that the cashier then counts 2 or 3 times.....

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

Best idea for Thailand EVER.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shamrock09]

On 8/21/2017 at 6:37 AM, Bluespunk said:

Didn't realise that's how diphtheria's spread.

 

4 hours ago, 12DrinkMore said:

 

Yep, I am completely against a cash free society.

 

Not only will it lead to more financial repression, as you have stated, but all income and outgoings will have a traceable electronic trail. Certain transactions in, for example, Pattaya, , I do NOT want to have coming back at me in the future. Probably Lek, Noi, Moo, Nung do not want have accounts showing that Tom, Dick and Harry have been regular visitors.

 

I do not want to be financially profiled. 

 

The tax man would love to have access to all these records. 

 

The finance companies will also take a percentage slice of all purchases. 

 

No thanks.

 

I want to have a choice, and that includes trace-free money in my wallet.

 

Exactly, but I don't see this at all. Last week I tried to make my monthly car payment via credit card and was told it was impossible.

[Oxx]

7 minutes ago, shamrock09 said:

 

Exactly, but I don't see this at all. Last week I tried to make my monthly car payment via credit card and was told it was impossible.

 

Of course it was.  If you pay by credit card the credit card company takes a chunk of the cash.  The financing company wants to get all of the money it's due.  The use of credit cards is nothing to do with a "cashless society"; credit cards are not a substitute for cash.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Oxx

[topt]

2 hours ago, Oxx said:

credit cards are not a substitute for cash.

They were for me when I was living in England....................

But they were giving me a share of every penny I spent so it was more than worth it.......

(Agreed in the example you were quoting a finance company probably isn't going to take it however).

[Enoon]

8 hours ago, 12DrinkMore said:

 

Yep, I am completely against a cash free society.

 

Not only will it lead to more financial repression, as you have stated, but all income and outgoings will have a traceable electronic trail. Certain transactions in, for example, Pattaya, , I do NOT want to have coming back at me in the future. Probably Lek, Noi, Moo, Nung do not want have accounts showing that Tom, Dick and Harry have been regular visitors.

 

 

 

"Dick" being the most regular of all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[manarak]

a cashless society requires such a high level of security and protection of personal data that I don't see any country in the world able to make it a reality anytime soon.

 

[Oxx]

47 minutes ago, manarak said:

a cashless society requires such a high level of security and protection of personal data that I don't see any country in the world able to make it a reality anytime soon.

 

We already entrust enormous amounts of money to computer systems:  our bank accounts, our investments, our pensions, our social security entitlements.  We trust the security and protection of these things.  A cashless society is but a step further.

 

And technological advances such as blockchain potentially make such systems even safer.

 

(Whether Thai institutions can actually implement a secure computer system, however, is somewhat questionable.  The PromptPay implementation has been farcical.)

[manarak]

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

We already entrust enormous amounts of money to computer systems:  our bank accounts, our investments, our pensions, our social security entitlements.  We trust the security and protection of these things.  A cashless society is but a step further.

 

And technological advances such as blockchain potentially make such systems even safer.

 

(Whether Thai institutions can actually implement a secure computer system, however, is somewhat questionable.  The PromptPay implementation has been farcical.)

 

investments, pensions and social security payments are not transactions we want to protect from unwanted scrutiny.

 

in a cashless society, a person's full payment history will be accessible to some people with privileged access and to others who will access that data in an unauthorized manner, in addition to all goofs, security holes and whatever.

 

a short search didn't turn up the references I wanted, but in the past few years I have read multiple press articles that described how employees of intelligence agencies and law enforcement abuse their function to dig up other people's personal information for their personal use.