Google Play established a collaboration deal with Ant International‘s Antom and Thailand-based Kasikornbank to launch a new local payment option on Google Play. This is the first time a Southeast Asian mobile banking app has been made available on the platform as a payment option.
This was announced at a press release on Thursday, July 31, where stated that K Plus, a new local payment mechanism on Google Play, was launched as a result of the partnership. The platform is offering a Southeast Asian mobile banking app as a payment option for the first time.
For each Android device, Google Play offers users a single location to locate, enjoy, and share their favourite games, apps, books, and more. One of the most popular mobile banking apps in Southeast Asia is K PLUS, which is run by KASIKORNBANK. Using their regular banking app, its 14 million Android users will be able to pay for local and international digital content on Google Play.
Antom, Ant International’s unified merchant payment solution, builds on its experience with digital wallets by enabling recurring payment features on a banking app to support international enterprise merchants.
Antom continues to propel growth in transaction volumes and user acquisitions, and has been a strategic partner of Google Play in extending payment choices in Asia Pacific (APAC). By introducing digital wallets that cater to millions of users in the area, Antom’s partnership with Google Play is further strengthened with the launch of K PLUS.
Through its vast worldwide acquisition network, Antom helps merchants integrate more than 300 payment methods in more than 100 currencies by utilising its AI-driven solutions for digital marketing, risk management, and payment orchestration.
Nearly two-thirds of worldwide digital wallet spending in 2024 will come from the Asia Pacific area, which is leading the world in the adoption of digital payments, according to a Deloitte report1. Since 2022, Antom has assisted Google Play with enabling an expanding list of top payment methods, including as DANA, GCash, and Touch ‘n Go eWallet, in response to this expansion. Antom and Google Play will keep collaborating to improve payment experiences and expand local payment coverage.
Through its A+ Rewards in-App digital marketing platform, which is driven by AI and privacy-preserving computing technologies, Antom assists Google Play in launching digital campaigns in addition to payments. A+Rewards links Google Play with hundreds of millions of e-wallet users by being integrated into the top e-wallets in Asia. Customers used regional e-wallets to claim more than 20 million Google Play vouchers from A+Rewards in 2023 and 2024.
Google Play is dedicated to giving users the greatest experience possible and helping developers expand their digital ecosystem. Zulfi Rahardian, head of Google Play Retail and Payments Activation, Southeast Asia, stated in the announcement, “We are thrilled to announce that Google Play now supports K Plus as a new payment option in Thailand.” “We hope that this launch will make it easier for Thai consumers to buy games, apps, entertainment, and digital content through safe, quick, and easy transactions.”
“We at KASIKORNBANK are dedicated to constantly improving our digital payment system in order to provide our clients with a smooth, quick, and safe financial experience. Google Play customers in Thailand now have more payment options because to this partnership with Antom and Google Play. By connecting their account with K PLUS, they may pay directly for apps and digital content. We are the first bank in Thailand and the Southeast Asia region to allow Google Play payments for mobile banking. Our objective is to have over one million linked accounts by the end of 2025, and we already have almost 14 million K PLUS customers on Android,” stated Ketchayong Skowratananont, executive vice president of KASIKORNBANK.
To support corporate merchants, Antom, Ant International’s unified merchant payment service, is enabling recurring payment features on a banking app for the first time with this deployment, according to the press release.
The debut coincides with a global increase in the use of mobile wallets. According to the media Intelligence report “Pocket Revolution: How Mobile Wallets Are Changing Payments Worldwide,” Generation Z has been a major force behind mobile-first payment trends in the 11 countries analysed, with their in-store mobile wallet usage increasing by 23% since 2022.
In addition to Gen Z, other age groups are also adopting mobile wallets; from 2022 to 2024, millennials’ in-store usage increased by 3.7%, Gen Xers’ by 5.1%, and baby boomers’ and seniors’ by 9.9%.
Nick Babinsky, the Chief Product Officer of Solutions by Text, discussed some of the difficulties the payments industry has as it moves towards a “mobile-first, conversational future” with media officials this month.
The spread of fake text messages, which are sometimes disguised as official demands from financial institutions or authorities, is one of these obstacles, according to Babinsky. Customers and suppliers are now more sceptical of the security and safety of texting for financial problems as a result of these messages.
Innovations are being developed, such as the use of Rich Communication Services (RCS), to counteract this scepticism and boost confidence, he said. As of the second quarter of this year, all of the major mobile carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, support RCS, which is the “next frontier” beyond regular SMS and MMS.
Convenience isn’t the only reason for payment localisation. Building the foundation for digital inclusion is the goal, according to Gary Liu, general manager of Antom, Ant International. We’re thrilled to add K PLUS as a new payment method to our partnership with Google Play. Our goal is to help retailers scale more effectively while making digital payments simpler and safer using AI-powered solutions.
This agreement is a cornerstone of Google and Ant International’s larger strategic alliance.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
