"National ITMX Company Limited" (NITMX) is advancing the development of Thailand's payment infrastructure, "stepping into a new world by connecting Thai technology to the global stage," enhancing the system's capacity to support up to 10,000 transactions per second, addressing the needs of digital spending. Building on "PromptPay" to develop "PromptBiz" will enhance the competitive capabilities of Thai businesses and drive the economy towards digitalization.

Mr. Ronadol Numnon Deputy Governor for Financial Institution Stability, Bank of Thailand (BOT) stated that the payment infrastructure accessible to service providers and capable of supporting innovations in the digital world will be a key mechanism driving the financial sector into the era of Digital Transformation. The BOT supports the creation of a competitive environment and the development of financial services to ensure that all user groups receive comprehensive services and support a sustainable transition to a digital economy.

Mr. Payong Sriwanich President of the Thai Bankers' Association and Chairman of National ITMX Company Limited (NITMX) said that NITMX is the developer of Thailand's essential payment infrastructure and standards, particularly the PromptPay system, which has made payments and money transfers more convenient and direct to recipients, transparent, and free of charge.

As of the end of June 2022, the number of registered PromptPay accounts reached 70 million, an increase of 22.1% from the same period last year, with an average of 38.7 million transactions per day, up 59.3%, totaling 121 billion baht, an increase of 37.6% from the previous year. This has driven the growth of Digital Payment in the country, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people increasingly turned to digital spending instead of cash. In 2021, there were over 10 billion interbank payment transactions, with a total value of 39 trillion baht, equivalent to 2.4 times Thailand's GDP, and this trend is expected to continue in 2022, with over 6 billion interbank payment transactions valued at over 23 trillion baht from January to June 2022.

"NITMX is continuously developing to expand the system's capacity to support the rapidly growing volume of digital transactions, ensuring greater stability in transactions based on international security standards. By the end of this year, NITMX plans to enhance the system's capacity to handle up to 10,000 transactions per second, up from 6,000 transactions per second in February 2022, representing an increase of over 40 times since 2017, the first year of the PromptPay system's launch. Currently, the maximum transaction volume is 2,900 transactions per second, ensuring that Thailand's payment system, under NITMX's development, is efficient in terms of transaction capacity and stability, allowing for smooth and secure transactions."

NITMX is committed to improving the country's payment system for greater efficiency, following the direction of the Bank of Thailand's new financial landscape policy. It is developing digital payment and financial infrastructure for businesses, or PromptBiz, to support comprehensive digital trade transactions by linking and exchanging trade and payment information through financial service providers and connecting with government tax systems. This addresses the pain points of traditional business practices that still rely on paper documents, which are costly and prone to errors, while providing opportunities for large businesses to assist smaller ones in accessing more funding at lower costs. NITMX also emphasizes sustainability by developing payment systems that help reduce inequality, enabling businesses and individuals to access funding sources more effectively at reasonable costs. The system promotes information-based lending by utilizing alternative data for credit assessments, such as transaction data, which represents a new data utilization approach that enhances the efficiency of lending to SMEs, ultimately driving the country towards a truly digital economy.

Ms. Wanna Nopaphorn, Managing Director of National ITMX Company Limited stated that to move forward confidently, NITMX has set its business plan for 2022 to enhance the capacity and stability of its services in line with current and future financial service models, while upgrading the Next Generation Digital Infrastructure to serve as a financial foundation supporting the transition towards a digital economy. This aligns with the BOT's plan to enhance payment efficiency and access to funding sources for businesses under the PromptBiz project, alongside increasing capacity and stability by expanding the system to accommodate the growing transaction volume.

“NITMX is also researching to develop financial infrastructure to support changes in financial services in new forms to achieve maximum cost efficiency in the banking and finance industry, including supporting the development of the National Digital Trade Platform to enhance Thailand's competitiveness in the global trade arena.”