Published on June 27, 2005

More people are making financial transactions via the Internet and post offices than ever before, according to the latest data from the Bank of Thailand (BOT).

The number of customers making financial transactions via the Internet in 2004 rose 6.3 times compared to 2003, with up to 2.51 million now using online services.

The BOT says the rise is mainly due to commercial banks’ promotion of Internet banking.

According to the central bank, transactions via online services are particularly popular, with a total value of Bt1.31 trillion in 2004, a 106-per-cent increase on the previous year’s Bt638 billion.

The central bank’s report on payment systems states: “Clients are using Internet banking as banks have encouraged them with easier and more secure services.”

The most popular transactions via Internet are internal money transfers, representing 64 per cent of the total transactions, followed by payments for infrastructure costs, (33 per cent). Payroll and wage payments made up 2.7 per cent of Internet transaction.

Money transfers between different banks were the least popular transactions, at only 0.02 per cent of the total.

Payment via post offices and other payment service providers has also become more popular. In 2004 payments via these channels totalled Bt65.8 billion with 29.15 million transactions made, up 3.7 per cent on the previous year.

The most popular of the payment service providers are post offices, where 12.7 million transactions were made last year – up 23 per cent on 2003. There are now as many as 90 different financial transactions that can be made at post offices.

Competitors to the post office’s payment services include Pay Point and Counter Service.

The increasing popularity of electronic payment services reflects customers’ demands for more convenient methods of payment.

Anoma Srisukkasem

The Nation

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