Electronic Payments in Thailand

[28templarknight]

Hope this is the right place to ask. Am wondering what forms of electronic payments do businesses accept in Thailand? Be it Google Pay, Apple Pay, Rabbit LINE Pay...?

[wtboatr]

No Apple Pay anywhere.  Some larger businesses accept visa and Mastercard.

True Money is good for some businesses like 7-11.

The best electronic payment system in Thailand is PromptPay, but you must have a Thai bank account.  Everyone accepts PromptPay, even street food vendors.

[28templarknight]

3 hours ago, wtboatr said:

No Apple Pay anywhere.  Some larger businesses accept visa and Mastercard.

True Money is good for some businesses like 7-11.

The best electronic payment system in Thailand is PromptPay, but you must have a Thai bank account.  Everyone accepts PromptPay, even street food vendors.

Thanks!

So for tourists, one can only pay by either credit card or cash? I hope the small merchants take cash.

[ricktoronto]

3 hours ago, 28templarknight said:

Thanks!

So for tourists, one can only pay by either credit card or cash? I hope the small merchants take cash.

Hee hee, yeah they're saying no to unrecorded off the books cash every day. They insist on all those sales showing up for the tax man.

Just tap a credit card and carry a few thousand Baht and things will be fine.

 

[wtboatr]

18 hours ago, 28templarknight said:

Thanks!

So for tourists, one can only pay by either credit card or cash? I hope the small merchants take cash.

Everyone accepts cash in Thailand.  Cash is King.

[zzzzzz]

On 1/27/2025 at 7:17 AM, 28templarknight said:

Thanks!

So for tourists, one can only pay by either credit card or cash? I hope the small merchants take cash.

It's rather the other way around with small amounts you tend to be denied card payment even if it is accepted for larger amounts

I haven't yet found a really good solution for paying small amounts without cash. At least for everything where credit cards are accepted, I have my mastercard stored in my cell phone via NFC and it works perfectly

[28templarknight]

4 hours ago, zzzzzz said:

It's rather the other way around with small amounts you tend to be denied card payment even if it is accepted for larger amounts

I haven't yet found a really good solution for paying small amounts without cash. At least for everything where credit cards are accepted, I have my mastercard stored in my cell phone via NFC and it works perfectly

Do you store it on Google Wallet or Apple Pay?

[zzzzzz]

10 hours ago, 28templarknight said:

Do you store it on Google Wallet or Apple Pay?

I save it in Google Wallet because I have Android, but of course it works the same way with Apple pay. It doesn't matter, because my cell phone then pretends to be my Mastercard for the card reader.

[28templarknight]

2 hours ago, zzzzzz said:

I save it in Google Wallet because I have Android, but of course it works the same way with Apple pay. It doesn't matter, because my cell phone then pretends to be my Mastercard for the card reader.

Alright, cause somebody says they don't accept Apple Pay.

[zzzzzz]

i mean with Apple pay there is also something where you can scan a barcode and then pay there i don't think that's possible.

And that's what all the barcode scanning is partly used for and that works even for the smallest amounts and everywhere. There are no codes for Apple pay.

However, the normal NFC with a stored card should also work I think with Apple pay there is also a solution where you can scan a barcode and then pay there I don't think that works but the normal NFC with a stored credit card on a card reader should actually work. 

But as I said, some sellers are not happy about it if you pay with it, it probably costs more commission.

But in the end I can't say exactly because, as I said, I have Android and use Google Wallet but it works great

[Chris in Makati]

On 2/14/2025 at 11:39 PM, 28templarknight said:

Alright, cause somebody says they don't accept Apple Pay.

 

It's correct that Apple Pay and Google Pay don't exist in Thailand because the Thai banks have not yet joined those systems.

But the Thai banks do issue contactless credit and debits cards. A phone with a foreign card enrolled in Apple/Google Pay will appear to the terminal just like any other contactless card and you can make payments with it.

 

[wtboatr]

Google Pay and Apple Pay are just a layer on top of credit cards.

As a former merchant who used to pay 3% of my gross sales to these credit card companies, I can say I hate them with a passion.  3% doesn't sound like a lot.  Wrong.  When your profit margins are only 10%, visa and Mastercard took 25% of my profits.  I worked hard to makes sales and the credit card companies made a lot of money from me for doing nothing.  Yes, they make it easy for the customer, but very hard for the merchant.

I'm a big supporter of Prompt Pay here in Thailand.  There are no fees period, no merchant fees period.  That's good for business and bad for credit card companies. 

Why doesn't the USA offer electronic payments for free like in Thailand, without the 3% merchant fee?  We know the answer.  There's too much money to be made.  It's like another tax, but worse, because it's based on gross sales, not on net income.

Fuck the credit card companies, fuck Apple Pay, fuck Google Pay, fuck Samsung Pay.  Americans have become so complacent, so passive.  Even businesses have just rolled over and given up.  They are so happy to accept credit cards and give their hard earned money to banks.  Businesses pass the costs to their customers in the form of higher prices. 

What a scam this to consumers who are ultimately the ones that pay the merchant fees.  It's like an additional 3% sales tax on their purchases.  You don't think that the merchant really pays the fees do you?  Businesses never pay any fees or any tax.  It's all paid for by the consumers.  This hidden tax is not good for anyone except the banks.

I don't ever see Google Pay and Apple Pay becoming widespread in Thailand.  Why?  You can't compete with free.  

Thailand has a free electronic payment system called Prompt Pay.  If you have a Thai bank account, you have the ability to use Prompt Pay.  I use it several times a day and love it.