In order to make payment options more convenient for foreign tourists visiting the nation, Cambodia has launched a new Bakong Tourists app which can also be used in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.

According to a press statement by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), it has launched Bakong app to assist international tourists in making payments in the four nations.

Currently, Bakong links cross-border payment Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and UnionPay International.

According to NBC, tourists can spend up to USD 1,000 per day and up to USD 3,000 per day with verification. 

They can withdraw any remaining money from banks and business partners at the airport without being charged a fee, or they can donate to hospitals, such as Kantha Bopha and Angkor Hospital.

Chea Serey

During a soft launch ceremony of the Bakong Tourists app,  Chea Serey, NBC Governor, said that the advancement of the payment system is a pivotal priority for NBC as its goal is to establish an innovative, secure and efficient payment infrastructure that will enhance economic activities domestically and regionally.

“The establishment of Bakong Tourists app aims to boost the digital payment system in Cambodia and contribute to the tourist sector in the nation by making it easier for international tourists to Cambodia to pay digitally for products and services,” she said.

Serey added that tourists can download the app, register using an email and top up their account through business partners for international tourists.

In the future, the Bakong Tourists app will also enable users to link their existing international payment cards for account top-ups, she adds.

“I hope that an agreement with an international settlement company will be made soon to facilitate this. Across the nation, there are only 55,000 places that have POS (point of sale). So, when a tourist visits small vendors, he cannot pay with a credit card but with cash,” Serey adds.

According to her, the initiative also aims to reduce the reliance on cash, enabling tourists to make payments by scanning the KHQR code at approximately 3.3 million merchants across the nation.

“It is convenient for tourists as they can buy goods from small vendors in villages and provinces. If they can pay by scanning the KHQR code, it will make their spending easier and especially they will spend in riel. Regardless of where they are from, after depositing, they will be charged in riel,” she said.

Serey said that the app will be expanded to Malaysia later this month and South Korea next month. 

She added that tourists from partner nations of the bank can use their existing accounts and make payments in Cambodia, just like they do in their own countries.

“But it requires the traders in Cambodia to have a KHQR merchant. If the traders use the US merchant, they cannot receive it,” she clarified.