U.S. fintech payment firm Stripe enters the Thai market

San Francisco-based digital payments company Stripe launched operations in Thailand last week, saying that it will use its global payments network to win over customers in the Kingdom.

The fintech firm is the latest in a slew of U.S. tech companies to expand in Southeast Asia’s increasingly digital economies. In Thailand, Stripe will compete in the digital payment market with PayPal and local players with significant market shares, such as Omise and 2C2P.

“We are here for the long term. We will be a Thai company right for the Thai market,” Paul Harapin, Stripe’s Chief Executive Officer for Asia Pacific and Japan, told Nikkei. “But being a global organization, we can leverage the top resources from around the world to make sure that any organization, big or small, startup or the biggest company here in Thailand, can access the best skills possible.”

Harapin praised the Thai government’s Thailand 4.0 national strategy that promotes the development of a digital economy and a cashless society. The Thai government has launched its own nationwide digital payments system called PromptPay, and the Bank of Thailand has adopted intrabank digital payments while creating sandboxes to test other financial technologies.

“If you look at Thailand 4.0 objectives and what the Bank of Thailand has done with their 2022-2024 planning around digital payments, I think Thailand is extremely well-positioned to be innovative in the digital economy and unleash the innovation of the Thai people and entrepreneurs,” Harapin added.

Stripe believes that it can attract Thai companies doing business globally because its service works in 135 currencies. It does not currently handle crypto currencies, but Harapin mentioned that it might eventually change because of the strong interest in cryptocurrencies among businesses and consumers in the region.

Photo courtesy of https://ffnews.com/newsarticle/stripe-launches-in-thailand/