In April Thailand’s second largest bank Kasikornbank (KBank) partnered with JP Morgan to explore cross border payments using JPM Coin (renamed to Kinexys Digital Payments). Now KBank and group subsidiary Orbix Technology have partnered with Singapore stablecoin firm StraitsX for a different kind of cross border payment.

The April collaboration with JP Morgan was for Project Carina. KBank has issued Thai Baht ‘e-money on a blockchain’, which it calls Q-money. That’s because it uses the Quarix blockchain operated by Orbix Technology. Q-money is part of the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox. Meanwhile, with Kinexys Digital Payments, JP Morgan clients can open blockchain-based bank accounts on the bank’s private DLT.

Project Carina was to the transfer Thai Baht using Q-money to a USD bank account using Kinexys Digital Payments. The key advantages include the money arriving in minutes. Plus it allows cross border payments 24/7 without worrying about bank cut off times.

At the end of last month, KBank and Orbix started a separate collaboration that also involves Q-money, with a different angle. StraitsX is known as a Singapore stablecoin issuer and has been heavily involved in trials of purpose bound money in Singapore. This KBank alliance is for Thai tourists visiting Singapore to let them spend Q-money at Singapore retail outlets. Singapore is a popular tourist destination, with Thailand accounting for 2.4% of arrivals this year.

How the stablecoin payments work

Most retail outlets in Singapore support PayNow and Grab QR codes. Q-money app users can scan the codes to pay for items, with the app displaying the exchange rate to the user. In the background, the Thai Baht Q-money is exchanged for the StraitsX XSGD stablecoin. As a result, Singapore merchants receive money instantly in Singapore dollars. This latest test may form part of the same central bank sandbox.

“Quarix has played a significant role in driving the Q-money by KBank app and integrating it with the StraitsX system to allow seamless cross-border payments via blockchain, making them as convenient as domestic transactions,” said Mr. Yarnvith Raksri, Managing Director of Orbix Technology. “This marks a significant innovation in cross-border payments, enhancing speed, security, and reliability.”

Meanwhile, Siam Commercial Bank’s fintech arm SCB 10X has also launched a stablecoin trial within the Thai sandbox. It targeted conference attendees that recently visited the country for the Ethereum blockchain’s Devcon. In a similar fashion to the StraitsX trial, visitors to Thailand could use USDC to make local payments, which were automatically converted to SCB 10X’s Thai stablecoin THBX.