Paysbuy Co, the e-wallet and online payment arm of mobile operator Total Access Communication Plc, is upbeat about its 2014 revenue growth, aided by skyrocketing mobile internet use and online shopping traffic.
“We expect strong revenue growth of 35% to 2.7 billion baht this year as online retail is quickly becoming the preferred method of shopping as more people connect to the internet,” said general manager Somwang Luangpaiboonsri.
Paysbuy expects more than 1,000 merchants to set up online accounts with it this year, bringing its total to 11,000.
Transactions are projected to increase by 70,000 to 570,000 this year, said Mr Somwang.
Some 32% of customers are 21-30, 28% are 31-40, 16% are 41-50, 13% are under 20 and 11% are over 51.
“The younger generation is expected to increase the country’s online payment market,” said Mr Somwang.
Paysbuy has operated here for a decade and just received a licence from the Bank of Thailand to provide online financial and payment services.
Mr Somwang said the number of people paying with credit cards is declining because of changing consumer lifestyles and the proliferation of smartphones and tablets.
Credit card payments accounted for 38% of the country’s online payments last year, followed by cash at 32% and internet payments 30%.
Mr Somwang said the company plans to offer a slew of new services starting from April, ranging from online cash cards, virtual prepaid cards for online shopping in a possible collaboration with Visa or MasterCard, mobile credit cards, and payment on delivery for goods. It also plans to increase its cash payment counter services and offer installment payment plans for both Thai and overseas credit card holders.
“We aim to increase our market share to 10% in the online merchant market this year, as well as enhance online security standards to protect credit card holders’ data and prevent online financial crime,” he said.
Paysbuy installed a data security system called Tokenization that replaces sensitive data with unique symbols, retaining essential information with out compromising security. The system has become popular with small businesses.