Behavior Summary on The Way Thais Spend

According to “The Way We Pay 2023,” a summary of Thai payment behavior by the Bank of Thailand, it was found that during the past four years from 2019 to 2023, Thailand has experienced a steady growth in digital payment.

Especially the payment via Internet & Mobile Banking which is still the most popular. In 2023, the volume and value of payments reached 96.4% and 84.4% from 93.1% and 65.4% in 2019. This shows how Thai people are accustomed to using digital payments in their daily lives.

Moreover, there is also an increase in popularity in spending through other channels in 2023 as follows:

Internet & Mobile Banking', a popular spending channel with 30% usage

In 2020, ‘Internet & Mobile Banking’ continue to be a popular digital payment channel with a growth of 30%, reaching 136.1 million accounts at the end of Decembe2023, with a usage volume of 29.4 billion items or a value of 105.3 billion baht.

'PromptPay' usage is constantly increasing

‘PromptPay’ is a popular payment service. In December 2023, there were 77.2 million subscribers. The average daily transfer of 54.5 million transactions worth 129.9 billion baht, with an average transaction value of less than 5,000 baht, decreasing from 570 baht at the beginning of the year at 570 baht to 510 baht at the end of 2023. It can be seen that people use PromptPay in their daily lives and have the highest daily usage record of 75.9 million transactions.

'Card Payment', an option for online spending

Electronic cards (debit cards and credit cards) are another payment channel for the general public that people are familiar with, although the proportion of offline (EDC) card usage at present is still high. The use of cards for online payment has steadily gained popularity, accounting for nearly 30% of transaction volume in 2023, particularly in stores, travel, and restaurants.

'e-Money' is increasingly popular as a payment option

e-Money is another popular payment option. At the end of December 2023, there were 116.5 million e-money accounts. The volume of transactions in 2023 reached 3,065.6 million transactions, worth 713.4 billion baht.

According to the purpose of use, payment for goods and services and money transfers were the most popular. The proportion of transactions for goods and services was 59% and the value of use was 49%, respectively.

Thai people still prefer to use 'cash' the most

However, looking at the overall picture of all payment media, it was found that Thai people still prefer to use cash ‘the most’ in their daily spending, mainly in food and beverages at markets and carts, especially in low-value purchases.

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Thai people spend via what the most
No. 1: Cash
66% usage ratio, average spending at 212 baht
No. 2: Mobile/Internet Banking
28% usage ratio, average spending at 400 baht
No. 3: E-wallet
2.5% usage ratio, average spending at 221 baht
No. 4: Debit Card
2% usage ratio, average spending at 804 baht
No. 5: Credit card
1% usage ratio, average spending at 1,293 baht

The survey shows that Thai people spend in cash the most and via credit cards the least, but the average amount of credit card spending is the highest channel for people to spend.

In addition, when looking at the factors that make Thai people prefer to hold cash as the main means of payment, interesting information was found as follows:

The people in the Bangkok and Metropolitan Area hold the highest cash per day.
Males and females hold close cash amounts
The high-income bracket holds higher cash than the others.
The first jobbers (18-25 years old) hold less cash than other ages. The average value of the cash holdings is 1,776 Baht. The average amount of cash per person per day is 2,122 Baht.

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