UOB Mighty is the first mobile app in Thailand to enable contactless credit and debit card payments
United Overseas Bank’s new mobile app, UOB Mighty, enables customers to turn their Android smartphones into electronic wallets instantly and to make contactless credit and debit card payments in Thailand and overseas. UOB Mighty is the first mobile app in the kingdom to include contactless payments using a debit card which supports the National e-Payment initiative to promote a cashless society through the use of debit cards instead of cash.
It is also the first time that consumers in Thailand with an NFC-enabled Android smartphone and a UOB credit or debit card can make contactless payments with the assurance of tokenised security. Tokenisation is a method of encrypting a customer’s card payment data on the mobile device to protect sensitive card information. Customers simply have to launch the UOB Mighty app, select the ‘Pay’ function, enter a PIN and tap to pay at NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminals in Thailand and overseas.
Thais are increasingly attracted to using their smartphone to make banking transactions. According to the Bank of Thailand, mobile banking transactions in both volume and value rose steadily between 2012 and 2016, at a compound annual growth rate of 74.37 per cent and 64.88 per cent respectively. Smartphone penetration has also increased in line with this usage, up from eight per cent in 2011 to 50.5 per cent 2016.
The UOB Mighty mobile app has a simple user interface. It enables customers to perform daily banking transactions, and, in four easy steps, to pay bills and to transfer funds on the go. Its dining feature offers a directory of more than 1,000 restaurants in Thailand where the user can receive recommendations on and make bookings at restaurants based on preferred cuisine and location. The dining feature is available for both iPhone and Android users. iPhone users also have secure one-touch access to view their accounts with Touch ID.
Mr. Yuttachai Teyarachakul, Managing Director, Country Head of Personal Financial Services, UOB (Thai), said “The smartphone is increasingly becoming an indispensable lifestyle device for consumers. With more people using smartphones in Thailand, we also see more banking on the go. UOB Mighty makes it possible for our customers to bank, to plan, to book and to pay for lifestyle-related activities through one simple app.”
UOB Mighty is available for download from Google Play and the Apple App Store. The full functionalities of bank, pay and dine are available to Android users with Android 5.0 and above. iPhone users require iOS 8 and above for banking and dining functionalities.