The Thai central bank is looking at various block-chain applications which will include international payments. This supports the notion that block chain technology adoption is inevitable in Thailand’s mainstream finance sector. The pronouncement was made at the Bloomberg ASEAN Business Summit by the governor of Thailand’s main bank, DR Veerathai Santiprabhob, who revealed the central bank’s interest in the block chain. He further revealed that they were reviewing blockchain applications to help them in document authentication, cross-border payments and also supply chain financing.
He also reiterated the bank’s commitment to establishing and maintaining regional connectivity and expressed positivity that the block chain’s ability to enable cross-border payments would help maintain regional connectivity. The central bank is also looking to blockchain technology to help them further secure financial information in order to keep fraudsters at bay. The central bank is reportedly carrying out the block chain tests through a platform known as the “sandbox”.
The sandbox is a platform used by financial institutions seeking to test new technologies in order to ensure that their operating standards are safe before they are launched to the general public. The Thai main bank has also previously demonstrated an interest in blockchain technology with the Thailand central bank governor revealing that they were working with the Thai blockchain community initiative in March last year in order to harness blockchain technology in banking. The initiative attracted interest from 14 commercial banks as well as seven private and public enterprises.
The initiative is meant to devise ways to make operations and processes easier in the financial sector. This can happen through the provision of letters of guarantee that are based on the blockchain as well as reducing bond allocation times from 15 days to 2 days, which will be a monumental improvement. The bank’s exploits in the crypto space have led them to decide on launching their own digital currency. Through the Thai blockchain community initiative, the bank will launch a project dubbed “project Inthanon” which will give birth in due time to the bank’s own cryptocurrency.
This cryptocurrency will come in handy when it comes to executing interbank settlements. The blockchain will certainly play a pivotal role here when it comes to creating ease of transactions, facilitating convenience, while also enabling fast and on time transactions. At the 2018 Nomura investment Forum Asia held in Singapore, the Thai central bank governor, Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob clarified that just like all other central banks, their goal was not to launch and roll out the crypto-currency immediately but to check out its potential and how it affects the banks back office operations.
