SCB & BOT collaborate to launch retail CBDC app pilot project

By Gloria Mathias

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) & the Bank of Thailand (BOT) are working together to support advancing the country’s digital currency infrastructure. Their latest endeavour involves developing the CBDC SCB application to facilitate a retail CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) usage test.

This pilot program is limited to a select group of whitelisted participants who can try out the app’s features, including topping up funds, scanning, making payments, transferring money, and converting CBDC back into regular currency.

This initiative showcases SCB’s strength in digital technology, financial expertise, and available resources, as well as its commitment to collaborating with the BOT to build Thailand’s future financial innovation infrastructure.

Dr Chalee Asavathiratham, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Banking Officer at Siam Commercial Bank, said, “The Bank is dedicated to contributing its digital technology capabilities, financial expertise, and available resources to support the CBDC project in partnership with the Bank of Thailand. We have developed the CBDC SCB application to test its functionalities, including basic features such as topping up funds, making payments, transferring money, and converting CBDC into regular currency. This app is specifically designed for the whitelist group, ensuring its exclusive usage. By connecting it to the SCB EASY app, whitelist participants can convert CBDC back into the corresponding amount of money in their accounts during the testing period, with one CBDC equaling one baht. The safety standards applied to this process mirror those provided to the bank’s regular customers.”

“It’s important to note that this innovation track is solely a closed system test and does not involve application to project participants or shops. Currently, the retail CBDC remains a project under study, aligned with the BOT’s principle of “Pilot to Learn, Not Pilot to Launch,” said Dr. Chalee.

Retail CBDC represents a digital form of money, equivalent to holding banknotes, with the added advantage of minimizing associated risks. It is a crucial financial infrastructure that fosters connectivity and opens doors for future innovations.

This system aims to reduce reliance on intermediaries for exchange, enabling the people and businesses of Thailand to access financial services in new, convenient, fast, secure, and cost-effective ways.