Visa joins with city of Pattaya in a pioneer program to expand electronic payments acceptance network across Thailand. Collaboration marks launch of Thailand’s first Visa-Pattaya city co-branded tourist prepaid card issued by Krungthai Bank.
BANGKOK, THAILAND – Visa is embarking on a geographic expansion of its acceptance network beyond Bangkok and into popular tourist and commerce hubs across Thailand. In an event held in Pattaya with the Mayor of Pattaya, Ittipol Khunpluem, to mark the acceptance business alliance, Visa launched the country’s first Visa-Pattaya City co-branded Tourist Prepaid Card issued by Krungthai Bank, which will offer cardholders immediate access to benefits including exclusive deals and promotions of up to 50 percent discount at participating Visa merchants in Pattaya.
The expansion will see Visa working across second tier cities with significant tourist business to grow its electronic payments infrastructure by reaching out to underserved merchant segments. In a pioneer program, Visa and the City of Pattaya have announced a business alliance that will help drive the Visa card acceptance network among merchants as well as launch a series of educational and marketing programs that will help merchants and cardholders realize the benefits of electronic payments. Alongside growing merchant acceptance, Visa joined hands with the City of Pattaya to decorate the city as a “Visa Zone.” This incorporates greater Visa brand visibility at key landmarks, destinations and hotspots, strengthening cardholder confidence and understanding of Visa acceptance at numerous merchant locations.
Ittipol Khunpluem, Mayor of Pattaya, said: “The Pattaya and Visa business alliance will be a winning combination for local businesses and all visitors to Pattaya – and we see this as a new era, not just for the City of Pattaya, but for Thailand. We are delighted to be the first city in this effort by Visa to launch the Thailand Pattaya Tourist Visa Prepaid card. For the first time, tourists in Thailand and abroad will have a convenient, safe and ready-to-use payment tool.”
Somboon Krobteeranon, Visa Country Manager, Myanmar and Thailand said: “Pattaya is the third largest tourist hub in Thailand and therefore a key center for us to focus on. This ground-breaking alliance with the City of Pattaya will ensure that the world famous resort city will be equipped to let millions of local and foreign visitors use their Visa cards and take advantage of our joint-promotions offered throughout the year. Such initiatives also demonstrate Visa’s commitment to promoting the local tourism economy.”
According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the kingdom welcomed a record 22.3 million visitors in December 20121, and each year, Pattaya attracts some three million local and five million foreign tourists2, making it one of the largest tourist centers in Southeast Asia.
In addition, Visa and bank partners will introduce innovations such as the mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) device to accelerate the pace of electronic payment adoption among small merchants. Thailand is the first country in Southeast Asia, and among the first in Asia Pacific, to launch Visa’s mPOS device which is a small payment card reader that can be plugged into a smartphone. Once configured, the smartphone with the mPOS attached allows merchants to accept Visa card payments via a swipe or by dipping the card.
“Currently we welcome around eight million visitors every year so there is a huge opportunity for this alliance to succeed and develop into an ongoing campaign that encourages even more visitors to Pattaya,” added Khunpluem.
Krobteeranon said: “Visa connects consumers, merchants and financial institutions around the world with solutions that make payments more convenient and more secure. Through our collaboration with the City of Pattaya, Visa will utilize the latest payment innovations to provide small business owners, such as stallholders, a way to overcome traditional payment infrastructure constraints. Solutions such as mPOS give merchants in this segment an easy, cost-effective and portable way to accept Visa card payments from customers.”
Globally, there are more than 1.9 billion Visa cardholders and by growing card acceptance with card issuance in cities like Pattaya means merchants can enjoy immediate access to a large pool of Visa cardholders and the potential of increased sales.
Tatiana is the news co-ordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy. She holds a Bachelor degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
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