In 2003, after he quit from a mobile games company in Bangkok, a contact from a Thai bank reached out and asked if he could develop software to authenticate cardholders, as the bank was already considering forking out a sum for a licence from a foreign company.
Hit “checkout” when purchasing online and your phone pings with an SMS confirming your credit card expense. This simple yet secure mode of authentication has remained in use for more than a decade — a testament to its efficacy.
However, this crucial technology was licensed to a bank for the nominal sum of THB1.00 (4.2 cents), according to its developer, Aung Kyaw Moe, who also founded payments platform 2C2P.
