TrueMoney, the e-wallet service under Ascend Money, is joining forces with Google Play Store to make buying content online easier, forgoing the need for a credit card.
Monsinee Nakapanant, co-president of Ascend Money Co, said the collaboration will capitalise on high growth in the Thai business-to-consumer (B2C) market, which is the best performer in Asean, according to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency.
During 2016-17, B2C market value rose to over 160 billion baht, partly due to more convenient e-payment services.
Many consumers lack credit cards, making it difficult to shop online and buy products from overseas.
Ms Monsinee said the goal of the collaboration is to deliver fast, convenient and secure transactions via e-wallet payments, online or offline.
All Android users in Thailand will be able to buy digital content such as songs, movies, e-books, games and Android apps from Google and online stores more conveniently without using a card.
The latest move follows a collaboration between TrueMoney and Apple that began in 2017, serving as a payment channel for Apple's App Store on iOS devices.
TrueMoney has about 7 million active users each month in Thailand and expects 10 million by the end of this year.
TrueMoney is accepted at 200,000 locations nationwide. The company will expand its partnership with merchants who provide offline payment services compatible with TrueMoney.
Nirun Fuwattananukul, deputy director and head of commercial for TrueMoney Thailand, said TrueMoney has a total of 21 million users and more than 50,000 agents in six countries in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
For Thailand, the B2C market has the most potential for growth in Southeast Asia, due to payment infrastructure, the banking service structure and the online banking system.
Thailand has 31 commercial banks with 2,014 branches, 39 million PromptPay account links and more than 100,000 top-up kiosks for mobile services.
