Google Play Launches K PLUS in First for SE Asian Payments

Google Play launched a partnership with Thailand-based Kasikornbank and Ant International’s Antom.

The collaboration resulted in the launch of K Plus as a new local payment method on Google Play, according to a Thursday (July 31) press release. It’s the first time a Southeast Asian mobile banking app has been offered as a payment option on the platform.

“We’re excited to announce that Google Play now supports K Plus as a new payment option in Thailand,” Zulfi Rahardian, head of Google Play retail and payments activation, Southeast Asia, said in the release. “With this launch, we hope Thai consumers can purchase games, apps, entertainment and digital content more easily through safe, fast and seamless transactions.”

The rollout marks the first time Antom, Ant International’s unified merchant payment service, is allowing recurring payment capabilities on a banking app to bolster enterprise merchants, the release said.

The launch comes as mobile wallet usage is increasing around the world. The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Pocket Revolution: How Mobile Wallets Are Changing Payments Worldwide” found that Generation Z’s in-store mobile wallet use has risen 23% since 2022, establishing this age group as a primary driver of mobile-first payment trends across the 11 countries surveyed.

Outside of Gen Z, mobile wallet adoption is on the rise among other age groups, with in-store use climbing by 3.7% for millennials, 5.1% for Generation X and 9.9% for baby boomers and seniors from 2022 to 2024.

Meanwhile, Solutions by Text Chief Product Officer Nick Babinsky told PYMNTS in an interview this month about some of the challenges facing the payments sector in a transition to a “mobile-first, conversational future.”

Among these hurdles is the proliferation of fraudulent text messages, often masked as legitimate requests from authorities or financial institutions, Babinsky said. These messages have fostered skepticism among consumers and providers about the safety and security of texting for financial matters.

To combat this skepticism and increase trust, innovations are being worked out, including the adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS), he said. RCS represents the “next frontier” beyond traditional SMS and MMS, a protocol now supported by all major mobile carriers such as Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile as of the second quarter of this year.