🇹🇼 FISC vs 🇹🇭 PromptPay

Taiwan vs Thailand · Real-time payment systems compared

🇹🇼 FISC

Taiwan

2025 Transactions1.4 billion

2025 Value (USD)$7.6tn

Volume YoY+3.6%

Launched1991

OperatorFISC

SettlementNear-instant

🇹🇭 PromptPay

Thailand

2025 Transactions27.4 billion

2025 Value (USD)$1.6tn

Volume YoY+12.8%

Launched2017

OperatorBOT

SettlementInstant

Key differences

PromptPay processes 19× more transactions than FISC (27.4 billion vs 1.4 billion in 2025).
PromptPay is growing faster year-on-year (12.8% vs 3.6%, a 9.2 point gap).
FISC (1991) predates PromptPay (2017) by 26 years.
Settlement: FISC is near-instant, PromptPay is instant.
Both systems support QR code payments.
PromptPay uniquely supports cross-border, ISO 20022.

Infrastructure comparison

Capability	FISC	PromptPay
QR Code Payments	✓	✓
Wallet Support	—	—
24/7 Availability	✓	✓
Cross-Border	◐	✓
ISO 20022	◐	✓
Request to Pay	—	—
Open API	◐	◐
Alias/Proxy	◐	✓

About each system

FISC

Taiwan's shared interbank real-time rail, operated by FISC (Financial Information Service Co.). Carries both institutional flows and consumer traffic — real-time transfers in every Taiwanese bank's mobile app, any-bank ATM withdrawals, and TWQR merchant payments. TWQR is FISC's national interoperable QR-code standard (launched 2019), used by consumer wallets Line Pay Money, JKO Pay, iPass Money and Pi 拍錢包. Live 24/7 since 1991, connecting 107 institutions, handling TWD plus five foreign currencies (USD, RMB, JPY, EUR, AUD). Settles through the CBC's RTGS.

PromptPay

Thailand's national e-payment system, a core part of the government's National e-Payment Master Plan. PromptPay links bank accounts to mobile numbers or national citizen IDs for instant P2P transfers, and includes a standardised QR code system for merchant payments. Operated by NITMX under Bank of Thailand oversight, it connects all major banks with zero fees for transfers under THB 5,000. PromptPay has cross-border QR linkages with Singapore's PayNow, Malaysia's DuitNow, and other ASEAN systems.