The Kasikornbank trial
Visa and Kasikornbank began an NFC payments trial in Bangkok in January 2009, with the aim of exploring the potential of a future commercial launch of NFC services. Customers taking part in the trial are able to upload their Visa card account to a Nokia 6212 NFC handset containing Visa’s payWave contactless application and then make purchases at any of the 1,000 merchant locations in Thailand that are equipped to handle contactless transactions.
Finnish firm Venyon, a joint venture between German smart card and SIM specialist Giesecke & Devrient and mobile handset manufacturer Nokia, is acting as a services partner for the trial and, in any future extensions of the pilot trial or a commercial rollout, has already been appointed to act as the Trusted Service Manager (TSM), responsible for providing over-the-air provisioning of third party services provided by partner banks, retailers, transit operators and mobile network operators.
“With rapidly increasing number of contactless smart cards in Thailand for payment and ticketing and the involvement of leading stakeholders such as Kasikornbank, there is a great opportunity to launch mobile contactless services that truly add value to consumers” says Lauri Pesonen, CEO of Venyon.
“We strive to offer the best and most comprehensive financial services to all our customers, as well as being at the forefront in adopting new technology to enhance our services,” Kasikornbank’s Anchalee Charasyosvuthichai explained during the launch of the trial. “We will be offering an easy, fast and convenient way for our customers to make purchases electronically. Most consumers in Thailand now carry their mobile phone with them wherever they go, enhancing the appeal of mobile banking and mobile payment services.”
