Times Reporters

Indochina Bank (IB Bank) last week organised an inclusive forum to promote e-commerce and digital payments. At the event, IB introduced to participants their Payment Gateway Solution, which not only focuses on processing Lao kip transactions but is able to accept international bank cards such as Visa and UnionPay International.Combined with lower servicing costs, it is hoped that the bank’s new solution can help to promote e-commerce participation and digital payments. “Here at Indochina Bank, through our core values of honesty and the highest integrity, combined with innovations, we are proud to introduce the Indochina Bank Payment Gateway Solution,” said the Managing Director of IB Bank, which is one of Laos’ top private banks and a market leader in retail banking, supporting major retailers and policy makers in Laos, Mr Tay Hong Heng.“Through this platform we envisage an uptake in digital commerce from Lao consumers. Laos, however, still faces many hurdles that prevent participation in e-commerce transactions. These hurdles may include an over-reliance on cash and lack of trust,” he said. 

The highlight of the event was a panel discussion that included Director General of the Payment Systems Department at the Bank of the Lao PDR, Mr Soulysak Thamnuvong; Director General of the Department of Trade Promotion at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mr Xaysomphet Norasing; Managing Director of Delivery Hero (Lao) i.e. Foodpanda, Ms Thanyalat Chaleunsouk; Director of e-Commerce with the Sokxay Group, Mr Thavin Roskittireuangsod; and Technology Strategist at IB Bank, Mr Inpone Bounkhamprasong. The panel discussed regulations that are set by the Bank of the Lao PDR, e-commerce trends in Laos, and hurdles that they face and where they would like to see improvements.Mr Soulysak said that during the Covid-19 pandemic they had seen a significant increase in the number of digital payment transactions. When asked about Lao applications using overseas payment gateways and overseas services were used due to the costs associated, but encouraged the use of local providers. 

The Department of Trade Promotion has been actively working with local producers to improve the quality of products and to explore new markets. Mr Xaysomphet described in detail the launch of the e-commerce platform to further promote sales locally and internationally. Further to this, the department will be releasing e-commerce guidelines or support soon, which will further help local businesses.   Foodpanda and Sokxay are prominent in the Lao market, providing a range of services. Ms Thanyalat shared with the audience the focus of Foodpanda to continually improve the customer experience, from time of order to delivery and payment. 

On the payments side, the preference would be to head towards more digital payments rather than cash, or QR upon delivery, due to the operational overheads involved. Although Sokxay provides a number of services, they recognise key strengths in other companies and are keen on developing partnerships.  Mr Thavin said that with this mindset, they have partnered with Foodpanda for local deliveries and for their e-commerce business, they are looking for an appropriate payment gateway provider. In looking at the “best fit” for businesses, Mr Inpone recommended business owners and platform operators to consider security (i.e. PCI-DSS compliance), the number of providers integrated into the platform and costs of set-up and maintenance, when deciding on which payment gateway solution to connect to. When asked by the moderator about approval by the BOL on new digital services, Mr Soulysak said that amongst other things, the regulator is concerned about security, customer protection, compliance and governance.

Through this event, IB hopes to do more activities of its kind to continually promote e-commerce participation and encourage more digital payments. “We believe that when banks, third-party providers, merchants, and platform owners work in collaboration, we can together overcome these hurdles,” Mr Tay Hong Heng said.