Nation leads march towards cashless society

Thailand is expected to transition to a cashless society faster than its regional peers, driven by the country’s rapid digital adoption and transformation, according to a Visa survey.
Visa, a leading global digital payment service provider, recently conducted the Consumer Payment Attitude Study and found that Thailand could become a cashless society by 2028, ahead of the Asean region overall, which is expected to reach this milestone post-2028.
The survey revealed 22% of Thai consumers believe a cashless society will emerge between 2026 and 2028, compared to 16% of consumers across Asean.
Thailand ranks third in the region for carrying less cash, with only 47% of the content of each Thai respondent’s wallet being cash, trailing Vietnam (56%) and Malaysia (49%).
Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa, country manager for Visa Thailand, said each regional market’s stage of payment technology development plays a crucial role in moving towards a less-cash society. In Thailand, PromptPay, the national payment platform, has been a significant driver of digital banking adoption, especially during the post-pandemic era.
The survey results also revealed that Thailand leads the region in mobile banking app usage frequency. A remarkable 97% of Thai consumers said they use mobile banking apps at least once a week, surpassing Vietnam (95%) and Indonesia (90%).
Real-time payments (RTP) are expanding rapidly, with 76% of Asean consumers being aware of RTP and 47% having used it for fund transfers. Thailand ranks first in RTP usage frequency in the region, with 86% of respondents making at least one RTP transaction per week, followed by Vietnam (84%) and Indonesia (69%).
Mr Punnamas credited the growth of RTP in Thailand to PromptPay, which has boosted digital payments and supported Visa’s business in the market. Thai consumers have become increasingly familiar with and trusting of digital payments, including Visa credit cards.
However, he admitted PromptPay’s success has disrupted Visa’s business in the Thai market, particularly in debit card services. The cancellation of Visa debit cards has risen post-pandemic, largely due to the growing impact of PromptPay, he said.
“Around 20% of Visa debit cardholders have not renewed their cards after they expired during the post-pandemic period. However, this ratio is expected to decrease as debit cards remain essential for certain customer segments,” he said.
Due to the country’s high level of household debt and limited access to credit cards for some retail borrowers, debit cards remain a vital digital payment solution in this consumer segment.
Mr Punnamas revealed that Visa Thailand plans to introduce Click-to-Pay, a tokenised payment system, next year to improve card security and prevent fraud. This innovative solution will eliminate the need for a 16-digit card number.