Thailand consumers get mobile wallet from Cellum

Cellum and Telenor's DTAC and PaysBuy subsidiaries have launched Thailand's first multifunctional mobile wallet capable of card payments, according to a press release. The service carries out 3D Secure transactions and is expected to boost the Thai m-commerce market, Cellum said in the press release.

Users who download the app, called PaysBuy, can register a Visa or MasterCard payment card and use the wallet to pay phone bills and utilities, according to the press release. Bills come with either a QR code or traditional barcode, and payment will be initiated when those items are scanned.

PaysBuy also will enable users to top up prepaid phone cards, as well as over 20 gaming cards, and also Skype, Google Play and iTunes accounts, according to the press release. Besides bill payment and top-up, there are also nearly 30 merchants upon launch, including one of the country's largest movie theater chains, that accept payments from the app, and thousands of online and physical stores are coming in the near future, according to the announcement.

Cellum did not say in the press release which phones support the mobile wallet. "Thailand is a market of nearly 70 million. For every 100 inhabitants there are only 30 Internet connections, but almost 150 mobile subscriptions, moreover, every other user uses a smartphone," János Kóka, Cellum Global's president and CEO, said in a statement. "They can now turn their phones into smart wallets. Twenty-million households can use the technology to pay their utility bills and to make purchases in dozens of stores. Later, the app will be accepted at several thousand merchants, as well as for air ticket reservations."

Source: Mobile payments today