Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), one of Thailand’s five largest banks, has launched a stablecoin solution for cross-border payments, including remittances. The project graduated from the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox in October 2024.
The bank partnered with its venture and innovation arm, SCB 10X, and Singaporean fintech Lightnet to implement the custody technology provided by Fireblocks. We requested details about the public blockchains and stablecoins used, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Cross-border payments typically require you to have a Nostro account that your bank can pre-fund at your destination. With stablecoins, this may not be necessary. Additionally, stablecoin transfers are very cheap and can be done 24/7.
“By leveraging blockchain technology and stablecoins, we are making cross-border remittances more efficient, reliable, and accessible to everyone,” said SCB’s first EVP and Digital Legal Affairs.・Tanawatton Kittiswan, head of payment department, said:
Initially, the solution was aimed at consumers, but now SCB plans to work on offering it to business customers. Japan’s three major banks are also considering something similar for cross-border payments, but are hiding their use of stablecoins. Therefore, the client initiates the bank payment in the usual way.
SCB Tech
A recently published report on bank stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and DLT payments identified 21 bank-linked stablecoin projects.
