Kasikornbank (KBank) has expanded its Q Wallet app to let Thai travellers pay Singapore merchants by scanning GrabPay QR codes, with settlement handled on-chain via StraitsX's XSGD stablecoin — no currency exchange or overseas bank account required, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
The three-way partnership between KBank, StraitsX, and Grab uses Q-money, KBank's own e-money token, as the settlement medium. Transactions run on Quarix, a blockchain infrastructure built by Orbix Technology & Innovation, a KBank group entity. Through integration with StraitsX, Q-money interoperates with XSGD to settle payments in real time between the two countries' payment ecosystems. The system also implements Purpose Bound Money controls to add programmable guardrails to the flows.
Both StraitsX and Grab hold Major Payment Institution licences from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and StraitsX and KBank are participating members of MAS's Bloom initiative. On the Thai side, the service is operating under a Bank of Thailand regulatory sandbox.
Singapore is KBank's first overseas pilot market for Q Wallet. The Grab merchant network gives it meaningful merchant coverage from day one, without requiring Thai travellers to download a separate local payments app.
StraitsX CEO Tianwei Liu framed the tie-up as a proof point for stablecoins in everyday cross-border commerce. "Travellers shouldn't have to think about currencies when they cross borders," he said.
