The National Bank of Cambodia has signed a MoU with Ant International to offer inbound and outbound cross-border mobile payments in the region. Following this announcement, the Memorandum of Understanding is set to promote efficient and secure cross-border mobile payments via QR code through KHQR, between Bakong’s network and Alipay+’s payment collaborators and global traders.

Users and clients of Alipay+’s payment partners will be enabled to simply leverage their home e-wallets in order to pay at any KHQR merchants across Cambodia if they are connected to a Khmer Riel bank account. This will offer them improved convenience and security, while also optimising the manner in which local businesses develop in the tourism industry. In addition, Bakong clients that have full KYC and Khmer Riel bank account holders will be allowed to use local wallets and applications that are supported by the National Bank of Cambodia, at any Alipay+ global merchants.

Through this process, the companies aim to optimise the use of the local currency. The National Bank of Cambodia’s recent strategy of development The National Bank of Cambodia had multiple collaborations and launches in the last couple of months, covering several different geographic areas around the world. In October 2023, the foreign exchange brand Travelex announced its partnership with the National Bank of Cambodia in order to trade Cambodia’s national currency, the Khmer Riel (KHR), at Singapore’s Changi Airport.

Clients and users were given the opportunity to both buy and sell Cambodian Riel at Changi Airport, in exchange for a wide range of currencies, such as the Singaporean Dollar, US dollar, Australian Dollar, European Euro, and Japanese Yen. In addition, Travelex’s investment in the Khmer Riel, as well as its decision to trade the currency in one of the Asia’s most prominent financial hubs, represented an important development for the currency. According to the press release published at the time, Travelex’s trading offered the possibility for Riel to be made available to trade with other currencies in Singapore in a secure and efficient manner.

Earlier in July 2023, the UnionPay International (UPI) and the National Bank of Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in order to improve the QR code interoperability for cross-border mobile payments. The collaboration aimed to optimise the experience of residents from both countries, as well as to enable Cambodian users to make payments with e-wallets from their home regions. This process took place within the global QR network of UnionPay, which included China.

The firms also addressed the needs, preferences, and expectations of clients and customers when they visited China or other regions. .