Shell Company of Thailand has partnered with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) to provide cashless payment services at its petrol stations, convenience stores and coffee shops in Thailand.

“The partnership with a market leader like Shell is another historic milestone for the energy industry in the Thailand 4.0 era, allowing consumers their first full-scale cashless station experience,” said Apiporn Charoenanusorn, Siam Commercial Bank senior executive vice-president and head of operations, retail products and retail payment.

Thailand is the first country in Asia where Shell has launched cashless payment services, the other two being Great Britain and the Netherlands in Europe.

Digital payment is not only more convenient for consumers but also supports the government’s move toward a cashless society as part of the Thailand 4.0 initiative, said Ornuthai Na Chiangmai, Shell’s executive director of retail business.

Ornuthai expects that the launch of the QR Code payment will reduce of cash transactions at its petrol station to 60%, compared with 80% currently.

Shell also expects that the convenience of QR Code payments will result in more than 1,000,000 QR code registrations within the first year of operations.

The QR code payment system is so far only available at the Shell Lert Trakarn station, opposite SCB’s head office on Ratchayothin Road.

The Lert Trakarn pilot project allows customers to pay for fuel through QR codes at the SCB Easy Cashier machine, an all-in-one electronic data capture (EDC) device for debit cards, credit cards, QR codes or other future payment methods as well as contactless payment.

Customers can use the QR code service through the mobile banking applications of any bank. They will be able to pay for fuel by QR code in a Drive-in Pay station, the designated “safe-zone” area where mobile phones can be used legally in the service station. Mobile phone use is considered potentially hazardous when filling up at the service station.

The company will test the market response before extending the QR code payment system to all of its non-oil units, including Shell Helix oil change stations, Shell Select convenience stores and Deli Cafes, in Thailand by the middle of this year. There are 520 Shell petrol stations, 320 Shell Helix oil change stations, 74 Select convenience stores and 55 Deli Cafes in Thailand.