The global service provider held a seminar entitled "MasterCard Asia/Pacific Middle East and Africa product forum and technology fair 2006" on August 3 and 4 in Hong Kong.

Major investment is needed to develop the card business in Thailand, Thawatchai said. And the technology must be upgraded to put it in the same league as other countries in the region. That said, some products simply do not match Thai customers' behaviour patterns, he said.

MasterCard has mainly promoted its chip card so far, including the EMV card, which is a standard approved by a consortium of EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa International. The company has also introduced two other products, the combo card and contact-less card.

The combo card is an all-in-one card that can be used in ATMs, as well as being a credit/debit/store card. The contact-less card is suitable for small spending, such as paying for fuel, Skytrain tickets or at fast-food outlets.

Thawatchai said some credit-card issuers in Thailand have shifted from magnetic-swipe cards to chip cards, which are a lot more expensive. If they upgrade to combo cards, the cost would be even higher.

"Contact-less payment for fast food is unlikely to catch on with Thai people, because the volume is low. Thais don't eat fast food that often," Thawatchai said.

Eileen Wee, vice president and country manager of MasterCard (Thailand), said card issuers have to maintain a balance between cost and benefit when it comes to technological development.

In Thailand, many card providers have launched MasterCard chip cards including Citibank, Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, KTC, as well as the Central Department Store.

Shuan Ghaidan, Asia Pacific's regional head of product sales and delivery at MasterCard, said the region had shown strong growth of chip cards over the past five years. The total has risen from about four million in 2001 to more than 50 million now.

With EMV cards, fraud can be tackled more effectively. For example, in Malaysia, the country's credit-card fraud problem fell more than 90 per cent in five months after switching to chip cards.

Since its recent launch in the region, MasterCard's contact-less payment syetem - PayPass - has enjoyed good growth, the company said.

There has been 36-per-cent growth in usage per account, 45-per-cent growth in total transactions per account, 230-per-cent growth in usage at merchants, and 270-per-cent growth in the number of transactions at merchants.

Somruedi Banchongduang

The Nation

Hong Kong