With no sign of abating any time soon, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced every sector to adapt and come together to guide the country forward. Small merchants and restaurants in particular have been devastated by the effects of the virus. In response to this, AIS 5G’s “Measure to Survive” is an extra channel of opportunity for small merchants to make sales and receive payments through the “AIS Pa Ruay” App from the points of AIS’ 42.7 million customers with no fees charged. They even get to promote themselves on the myAIS App and AIS V-Avenue.Co, reaching over 1 million transactions every day. The tactic is a spending stimulus, generating revenue for over small merchants to stay in business, while mitigating AIS customers’ spending by redeeming points for discounts instead of cash. Since a soft launch on July 1, there are now over 1,000 participating merchants, and AIS has set a target of over 100,000 merchants by the end of this year.

Bussaya Satirapipatkul, Head of Customer & Service Management at AIS noted, “AIS policy, besides developing the best possible digital services, is about being part of helping society, with a core duty to alleviate the suffering of every sector as much as possible, amidst a pandemic that has been raging for over a year. The pandemic has affected everyone, and small merchants in particular, including the streetside eateries and produce stalls which are the lifeblood of communities. This is because their customers have reduced spending power, combined with them self-isolating to reduce the continuous risk of infection.  

“Our challenge is how to connect, assist, support and maintain these small stores. Each of them is a vital cog, which when multiplied together drive the grass-roots economy. We also want to use our strength to relieve the spending burdens of AIS customers. ‘Measure to Survive’ came about as a tool to successfully achieve these missions.”

“Measure to Survive” leverages the spending power of AIS’s 42.7 million customers by encouraging them to make purchases from any kind of small shop and use their AIS Points to get a discount and save their own money. The merchants join the program through the app AIS Pa Ruay (“AIS brings wealth”) as a payment channel in which AIS customers can get a discount with AIS Points through the app “myAIS”, which has over a million transactions per day. There is also the “Around You” feature in myAIS app enabling customers to search for nearby privileges in a 3 km radius, as yet another channel to help out with extra opportunities for revenue, from customers supporting their local shops such as Krua Khun Mam Kesa Komol, Khun Sa Fresh Orange Juice, and Café by Crepe.”

Merchants themselves can easily apply to join the program, and no fees are charged. A merchant simply uses his AIS mobile number to download the free AIS Pa Ruay app from either Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store, fill in his details to join the program and can start using it immediately as a payment channel - all within 5 minutes. The merchant gets cash in their account within the next day. For more information see www.ais.th/เอไอเอสพารวย , or contact the
Pa Ruay Call Center on 1742.

 Meanwhile, AIS customers get privileges from AIS Points valued at 1 Point = 50 satang, which is easily converted to a discount at participating merchants. Customers can choose between using points to pay the full amount with no need for cash, or combining AIS Points with cash. It is also possible to spend from all existing points with no limiting quota. Over 17 million customers are currently in the AIS Points program. AIS and AIS Fiber customers earn points at the basic level at the rate of 1 point per 25 baht of service charge. Over and above this, the company conducts continuous campaigns, such as giving 10 points for the first login to the myAIS app, 60 points to customers joining the eBill program, or points from simply playing games on the myAIS app. There are also collaborations with a range of partners enabling the transfer of points from the partner to AIS such as Bangchak, Citibank and KBANK.

Bussaya concluded, ‘Measure to Survive’ is only one part of our rapid response, because we want to connect and help out our favourite and familiar small merchants to survive this terrible situation. We are also ready to give exclusive privileges to help out our customers and bring them life’s essentials with AIS Points. Through all of this, we have the sincere hope to be part of stimulating the national economy. As a Digital Life Service Provider, it is another important step to draw on our technological capabilities to aid the Thai people in this situation to every possible extent.”