Bank of Thailand to Leverage Blockchain Technology for Fraud Reduction and Cross-Border Payments

By Agi Fatou Ndow July 20, 2018 Digital Currency No Comments

The Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BoT) has said that the bank is thinking about blockchain technology for different applications during a speech at the Bloomberg ASEAN Business Summit on July 12.

Governor Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob disclosed that the bank was particularly looking into blockchain applications for cross-border payments, supply chain financing, and document confirmation.

As indicated by Dr. Santiprabhob, utilizing blockchain for cross-border payments would “improve regional financial connectivity and facilitate smoother cross-border financial services.”

The BoT’s Governor also noted that blockchain is playing a vital part in decreasing extortion and protecting financial information

“Adoption of modern technologies like in biometrics and the blockchain can help safeguard financial information and reduce the number and magnitude of fraudulent activities,” Santiprabhob noted.

In a recent speech, the BoT governor addressed the bank’s ongoing improvement of updated regulations empower “competition and innovation.”

“The Bank of Thailand is also undergoing regulatory reform to review outdated rules and regulations, to facilitate ease of doing business and ensure that our regulations do not impede competition and innovation and contribute to high costs of financial services,” the governor noted.

Thailand has made two outstanding moves in managing cryptocurrencies. As Cointelegraph reported on March 30, the country’s Finance Minister revealed a new tax framework for cryptocurrencies around the time. The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (Thai SEC) has also initiated new Initial Coin Offering (ICO) controls that came into force on July 16, as Cointelegraph announced a week ago.

This isn’t the BoT governor’s initial move towards executing blockchain-based advancements. As Cointelegraph reported earlier in June, Dr. Santiprabhob talked about the possibly of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to enhance interbank settlements.