Boosting Consumer Confidence in Using Mobile Banking Service

As part of the memorandum of understanding established between the Bank of Thailand and the Office of National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (Office of the NBTC) on regulating mobile banking service dated on 17 June 2016, both organizations had joined forces in uplifting the security of mobile banking service and had received generous supports from the Telecommunications Association of Thailand under the Royal Patronage and the Thai Bankers Association in boosting consumer confidence in using mobile banking and Prompt Pay service which will soon be launched in Q₁ of 2017.

Today, a meeting was held between Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, and Mr. Takorn Tantasith, Secretary-General of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC Secretary-General, to discuss on the progress of the concerned matters which can be summarized as follow:

1. Office of the NBTC shall notify all mobile service users in writing to strictly follow legal requirements and NBTC Notification regarding proper number transfer. All new SIM Card applications and changes whether it be SIM Card owner or personal data shall require the original ID card of the mobile service user in order to complete the process. In the event another person has been assigned to complete the task on behalf of the mobile service user, the original ID Card of both the representative and mobile service user must be presented. Office of the NBTC has developed standardized identification process to guarantee strict security and confidence in using mobile banking service while preventing illegal number transfer.

Any violation against the said legal requirements or NBTC Notification by performing illegal number transfer or changes will not only be liable to the punishments stated in NBTC Notification but also the damages resulting from such action.

2. Office of the NBTC and BOT agreed to collaboratively boost consumer confidence in using mobile banking and Prompt Pay services through strict security by requiring financial institutions to submit only mobile phone numbers (without displaying the name of mobile service users in the system) as it is the only data which mobile service users agreed to disclose to the mobile service operator for security purpose. Any changes in terms of mobile phone number shall strictly follow the procedure in no. 1 while mobile service operator shall notify the concerned financial institution regarding such changes to ensure that the information has been updated. However, mobile service operator must first obtain consent from the owner of the concerned mobile phone number before notifying the financial institution regarding such changes. In the case where the owner wishes to connect the new mobile phone number with Prompt Pay service, he or she can proceed to the financial institution to complete the process.
The exchanging of data between financial institutions and mobile service operators are expected to be completed by Q₁ of 2017.

3. To provide better convenience among mobile service users, BOT and Office of the NBTC decided to allow users to receive refund of prepaid mobile service via e-wallet or Prompt Pay service in the case of service cancellation in replacement of bank transfer, cheque or transferring the refund amount to new mobile account.