# PromptPay-LaoQR

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/promptpay-laoqr
> research date 2026-06-04 · extracted at 2026-10-06
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [Joint Press Release: Launch of the Cross-border QR Payment Linkage between Thailand and the Lao PDR — Bank of Thailand](https://www.bot.or.th/en/news-and-media/news/news-20240403.html)
- [Thailand, Laos Launch Cross-border QR Payment Link — Regulation Asia](https://www.regulationasia.com/thailand-laos-launch-cross-border-qr-payment-link/)

## Overview

The **PromptPay–LaoQR linkage** is a two-way cross-border interlink between Thailand's national instant-payment QR (**PromptPay / Thai QR**, switched by National ITMX) and the Lao PDR's national QR standard (**LAO QR / LaoQR**, switched by the Lao National Payment Network, LAPNet). It lets users of participating banks in each country scan the other country's merchant QR code from their home mobile-banking app, with the FX leg handled bilaterally <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[2][2]</sup>. It is the **sixth** ASEAN cross-border linkage for the Bank of Thailand and is delivered under the **ASEAN Payment Connectivity** initiative <sup>[1][1]</sup>. See national context in [../countries/TH-thailand.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH) and [../countries/LA-laos.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LA), and the regional framework in [ASEAN RPC](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/asean-rpc).

## History

The linkage was developed under the joint stewardship of the **Bank of Thailand (BOT)** and the **Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL)**, and announced on **3 April 2024** at the 11th ASEAN Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meeting in Luang Prabang <sup>[1][1]</sup>. It rolled out in two directional phases:

- **Phase 1 (from 3 April 2024):** Lao PDR users can scan **Thai PromptPay QR** codes displayed by merchants in Thailand, using participating Lao banks' mobile apps <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[2][2]</sup>.
- **Phase 2 (end of June 2024):** Thai users can scan **LAO QR** codes displayed by merchants in the Lao PDR, using participating Thai banks' mobile apps <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[2][2]</sup>.

The Lao PDR became the sixth country to which BOT linked its instant-retail-payment system, after Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam <sup>[1][1]</sup>. The link sits within a wider LaoQR cross-border push that also connected Laos with Vietnam, Cambodia and China UnionPay [../countries/LA-laos.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LA).

## Technical specification

- **Acceptance model.** Two EMVCo-aligned merchant-presented QR schemes are coupled: a payer's home app recognises the counterpart country's QR payload and processes it cross-border, rather than requiring a separate code at the merchant <sup>[1][1]</sup>. LaoQR is an EMVCo-aligned national specification interoperable across LAPNet members [../countries/LA-laos.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LA).
- **Operators / switches.** National ITMX (Thailand) and LAPNet (Lao PDR) operate the domestic rails being interlinked <sup>[1][1]</sup>.
- **Settlement banks.** **Kasikornbank (KBank)** on the Thai side and **Banque Pour Le Commerce Extérieur Lao (BCEL)** on the Lao side act as settlement banks for the corridor <sup>[1][1]</sup>. BCEL is the designated settlement bank for the Thailand corridor on the Lao side [../countries/LA-laos.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LA).
- **FX / local currency.** The linkage promotes settlement in the participants' local currencies (THB / LAK) under the ASEAN Payment Connectivity local-currency-usage objective <sup>[1][1]</sup>.

## Use cases

The dominant use case is **tourist and cross-border traveller retail payments** between two economies with heavy mutual travel — roughly 2 million cross-border travellers between the two nations in 2023 — letting visitors pay merchants by QR from their home app instead of carrying cash or exchanging currency <sup>[1][1]</sup>. On the Lao side the cross-border QR programme is closely tied to tourism initiatives such as Visit Laos Year 2024 [../countries/LA-laos.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LA).

## Implementations

At launch the linkage involved a small set of banks on each side, expected to grow <sup>[1][1]</sup>:

- **Thailand (Phase 1 acquirers / Phase 2 issuers):** Bangkok Bank and Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) among the initial participants <sup>[1][1]</sup>. Krungsri publicly launched QR payment services for Thai tourists travelling to Laos <sup>[3][3]</sup>.
- **Lao PDR:** six commercial banks at launch, including ACLEDA Bank Lao, Agricultural Promotion Bank (APB), BCEL, Joint Development Bank (JDB), Lao-Viet Bank and ST Bank <sup>[1][1]</sup>.

On the Lao consumer side, BCEL One and the EZyKip tourist app are the main LaoQR-capable apps [../countries/LA-laos.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LA).

## Comparison

- **vs [ASEAN RPC](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/asean-rpc):** This is one bilateral edge within the multilateral ASEAN Regional Payment Connectivity framework; RPC is the umbrella of QR and fast-payment links among ASEAN central banks, and this corridor is BOT's sixth such link <sup>[1][1]</sup>.
- **vs [DuitNow-QRIS](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/duitnow-qris):** Both are two-way EMVCo-QR linkages under ASEAN Payment Connectivity with named settlement banks and local-currency settlement; PromptPay–LaoQR is distinguished by an explicit *phased directional rollout* (Lao→Thai first, Thai→Lao second) versus the simultaneous two-way commercial launch of DuitNow–QRIS <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[2][2]</sup>.
- PromptPay itself is one of Asia's largest instant-payment systems, with tens of millions of registrations and very high daily volumes domestically [../countries/TH-thailand.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH), giving the Thai side a large acceptance base for the corridor.

## Status

**Live** in both directions since mid-2024 (Phase 1 from April 2024; Phase 2 from end-June 2024) <sup>[1][1]</sup><sup>[2][2]</sup>. The corridor is part of Thailand's broader, fast-growing cross-border QR network and Laos's expanding set of QR links (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China) [../countries/TH-thailand.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH), [../countries/LA-laos.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/LA). Granular corridor-specific transaction figures were not published in the launch materials reviewed.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.bot.or.th/en/news-and-media/news/news-20240403.html
[2]: https://www.regulationasia.com/thailand-laos-launch-cross-border-qr-payment-link/
[3]: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40039439

[1] [Joint Press Release: Launch of the Cross-border QR Payment Linkage between Thailand and the Lao PDR](https://www.bot.or.th/en/news-and-media/news/news-20240403.html) — Bank of Thailand, 2024
[2] [Thailand, Laos Launch Cross-border QR Payment Link](https://www.regulationasia.com/thailand-laos-launch-cross-border-qr-payment-link/) — Regulation Asia, 2024
[3] [Krungsri's QR payment services for Thai tourists to Laos kicks off](https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40039439) — The Nation Thailand, 2024

## Deployments

Found in the following country reports (grep across `reports/countries/`):

- **TH** — [TH-thailand.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/TH)

## Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country

- Thailand–Laos