new economy

　　

In recent years, ASEAN countries have shifted the focus of monetary cooperation to the field of clearing, especially the interconnection of digital mobile payment systems, which has become a booster of economic, trade and tourism exchanges among ASEAN countries and driven the rapid development of regional economy. At the end of last year, the interconnection between Cambodia's Bakong payment system and the Bank Pay International QR Code Payment Network was officially launched, facilitating personnel exchanges and funds between China and Cambodia, and further contributing to the digital transformation of Cambodia's economy.

More than 3.3 million merchants accept scanning-code payments

"Unexpectedly, electronic payment has been quite popular in Cambodia, there is no need to open a local account, you can scan the QR code of the merchant directly linked to the bank card in China for consumption, especially in the capital Phnom Penh, most of the merchants accept the scan code payment." During October 1, Tang Bo, who runs a travel agency in Chengdu, China, came to Cambodia to inspect the market.

In a few days of travel, whether it is using a taxi app to travel in Phnom Penh, or to the shopping mall to purchase daily necessities, Tang Bo has realized cashless payment. "After a trip, the cashless payment experience is almost no different from that in China, and I have increased confidence in the overseas tourism industry." Tang Bo spoke with anticipation.

The National Bank of Cambodia officially launched the Bakong payment system in October 2020, aiming to promote the use of money and the popularization of electronic payments in Cambodia, while enhancing connectivity among financial institutions. On December 22, 2023, the interconnection between Cambodia's Bakong Payment system and UnionPay International QR Code Payment Network was officially launched, opening cross-border QR code payment, which became the first cooperation project of payment interconnection between China and Cambodia. Statistics show that Cambodia received nearly 390,000 Chinese tourists in the first half of this year, an increase of 45 percent year-on-year. At present, more than 3.3 million merchants in Cambodia accept payment by scanning code, and about 150,000 POS systems accept credit card settlement.

The president of the National Bank of Cambodia said that China is the main tourist source country of Cambodia, and UnionPay card is the favored payment tool of Chinese tourists, in Cambodia, more than 90% of merchants widely accept the use of UnionPay card.

"The connectivity of the payment systems between China and Cambodia will promote the digital transformation of Cambodia's economy, which will not only improve payment efficiency and reduce transaction costs, but also further promote the rapid development of Cambodia's tourism industry." Liu Daozhi, president of Bank of China Phnom Penh Branch, said that UnionPay users can pay at Cambodian merchants by scanning the CatchQR code, and Cambodian residents can also pay at merchants that support UnionPay QR codes through Bakong wallet.

According to official data from the National Bank of Cambodia, as of the first half of this year, the Bakong payment system processed more than 220 million transactions, of which 98.05 million transactions were based on Cambodian riel, with a total transaction value of 77 trillion Riel; There were more than 120 million dollar-based deals with a total transaction value of $46.33 billion.

Chinese enterprises are actively participating in Cambodia's digitalization drive

The mutual recognition between UnionPay and Bakong is the first step in the interconnection of the two countries' mobile payment systems. She said that the National Bank of Cambodia is committed to further enhancing the security and convenience of cross-border payments and supporting the Cambodian government's goal of financial inclusion by encouraging the development of digital payments.

The safety and convenience of inclusive finance can be seen in the Lanzhou beef noodle restaurant run by Chinese national Li Tao. Because the local currency of Cambodia is common with the US dollar, if it is paid in cash, in the case of small dollar change, you can only use the riel change, which is very troublesome to convert.

Now, the tables in Li Tao's store are affixed with QR codes, and customers can scan the code themselves, saving them a lot of trouble. What makes him most happy is that from this year, the local UnionPay card in Cambodia can also be bound to wechat and Alipay, so that his income in Cambodia can be directly consumed or online shopping in China without remittance.

"You only need to use your country's QR code payment APP, or the bank's APP, and scan each other's QR code to achieve cross-border consumer payment." This will greatly facilitate the flow of people and cross-border settlement of funds between the two countries, and will promote closer personnel exchanges between the two countries." Liu Daozhi said that Cambodia's Bakong system and neighboring countries such as Thailand, Laos and Vietnam have also established two-dimensional code cross-border payment connections, and it is believed that more countries will participate in such cross-border payment systems in the future.

At present, BOC Phnom Penh Branch is the only clearing bank authorized by the National Bank of Cambodia to interconnect Bakong and UnionPay QR code payment network, and its main role is to help Bank Union and Bakong operators realize cross-border fund transfer.

"In addition, we are also actively expanding the merchant acquisition business and expanding the application market of Bakong and UnionPay QR Code connectivity in Cambodia." Liu Daozhi said that the Bank of China Phnom Penh Branch will actively play the unique advantages of cross-border business, solidly perform the clearing function, and provide more convenience for the fund exchanges between China and Cambodia.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin said: "The cooperation between China and Cambodia in the field of scientific and technological innovation has been fully demonstrated, and one of the achievements is the use of Chinese mobile payment software in Cambodia. In the future, the two countries will also deepen cooperation in communication, digital economy, clean energy, personnel training and other aspects to help Cambodia achieve leapfrog development."