Cross-Border Mobile Payments In Cambodia: Alipay+ Launches On KHQR
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and Ant International officially launched Cross-border QR Code Payments between the Bakong payment system and Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment and digitalisation solutions, Alipay+.
With this initiative, Alipay+ partner users of 12 international payment apps will be able to seamlessly make payments to more than one million merchants in Cambodia by scanning KHQR codes, with more to be progressively added.
The payment apps are; Alipay (Chinese mainland), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), Touch ‘n Go eWallet and MyPB by Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia), GCash (the Philippines), Kakao Pay, Toss Pay (South Korea), OCBC and Changi Pay (Singapore), Hipay (Mongolia), MPay (Macao SAR) and Tinaba (Italy).
This agreement will facilitate the payment for goods and services to businesses in Cambodia with accounts denominated in Cambodian riels.
Dr. Chea Serey, Governor of the NBC commented that this new initiative falls under the key priorities of the National Bank of Cambodia to continuously enhance and modernise cross-border payment with the region.
I firmly believe that the partnership between Alipay+ and Bakong's KHQR network would elevate financial cooperation by leveraging technology to benefit the customers, and is one of the most impactful developments in supporting the country's digitalisation journey and helping merchants capture new opportunities in the evolving landscape.
Edward Yue, General Manager for Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand at Ant International, stated during the launch event that travel habits have changed since pre-COVID. Cambodia will benefit from this, as travellers trust their familiar payment methods but prefer more localised experiences.
He said, “We thank the NBC for their visionary leadership in digitising local merchants and the travel ecosystem, which will not only enhance the travel experience for global consumers but also enable more local businesses to benefit from the strong tourism recovery.”
Yue added, “As more people travel like locals using just their home payment apps, the local economy and community will flourish in tandem, offering more localised experiences and building a more vibrant ecosystem for all. We will continue to work closely with regulators, merchants, and other industry partners to create a new future for cross-border payments and travel.”
This formalisation followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on November 15, 2023, between the National Bank of Cambodia and Ant International, focusing on "Cross-border Payment Cooperation via QR Codes" at the 2023 Singapore FinTech Festival.
According to the event release, in addition to Cambodia, Alipay+ also has partnerships with national standardised QR code payments in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Yue further added that as of today, Alipay+ connects users of more than 30 leading international payment partners to more than 90 million merchants across 66 markets.
Bakong Cross-Border Payment
KHQR was launched by the NBC in July 2022 intended to facilitate retail payments in Cambodia and cross-border payment within ASEAN countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and China's UnionPay International, while discussions are ongoing with other countries, including the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Japan.
Bakong’s transactions, both Khmer Riel (KHR) and US Dollars (USD), in the first half of 2024, totaling approximately USD 54.8 billion across 175.3 million transactions.
The NBC also announced a new cross-border payment collaboration between Cambodia and Malaysia, and with JB Financial Group from South Korea in Q3 2024. Additionally, it launched the Bakong Tourists App, merging the USD and KHR QR codes, and is developing a facial recognition payment system for payments.