Launching Vietnam - Cambodia cross-border QR code payment system

Vietnam and Cambodia have officially launched a bilateral cross-border QR code payment system, allowing people of the two countries to scan QR codes to make payments in their local currencies.

Illustration photo, source Internet.

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong and Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) Chea Serey chaired the launch event of the payment system on December 3 in Siem Reap province. According to a press release from the NBC, the new QR code payment system allows people of both countries to make cross-border payments in a safe, secure, convenient and affordable manner, while promoting the use of each country's local currency.

“The launch of the cross-border QR code payment system between Cambodia and Vietnam is expected to benefit the people of Cambodia and Vietnam, especially tourists and traders from both countries,” the NBC press release said. The effort follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two central banks on November 8, 2022. After the signing, technical working groups from both sides met to discuss the linkage method and agreed on a funding model for the project. With this project, Cambodian tourists will be able to pay in Vietnam in Riel via the Vietnamese QR code, while Vietnamese customers can pay in Cambodia in Vietnamese currency via the KHQR code. KHQR is a popular quick response (QR) code system created for retail payments in Cambodia. Users only need a single QR code to receive payments from any mobile app, including the Bakong app. In 2022, NBC launched the KHQR code payment service, aiming to promote mobile retail payments in Cambodia.

In addition to Vietnam, Cambodia also has bilateral cooperation on cross-border QR code payments with neighboring countries Thailand and Laos. In Channy, President and CEO of ACLEDA Bank, said all these initiatives aim to facilitate easier payment for goods and services, promote the widespread use of the Cambodian Riel for local payments, and support financial inclusion as part of the integration into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Kim Oanh