The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has announced the launch of the Bakong Tourists App with Mastercard , with the institution aiming to optimise digital payments for tourists visiting Cambodia. Through this move, NBC allows tourists coming to Cambodia to link their existing Mastercard to top up their Bakong Tourists wallet, which in turn mitigates the need for refilling via Bakong business partners.

Optimising tourists’ experience in Cambodia The newly launched solution works towards augmenting the payment experience for visitors, providing them with instant access to funds, enabling purchases, bookings, and expense management without needing to carry cash or leveraging currency exchange kiosks. As part of the next phase, the app is set to allow users to link with other existing international payment cards, with the move centring around minimising the reliance on cash and supporting tourists in making payments by scanning KHQR codes at nearly 3.3 million merchant locations across Cambodia. Moreover, representatives from NBC underline that the launch of the Bakong Tourists App with Mastercard is set scale innovation in the banking and financial sector, equipping travellers with both convenience and security of digital payments.

Recent news from NBC In recent months, the National Bank of Cambodia has made several advancements, with the financial institution introducing new services and partnering with industry participants to meet the needs, demands, and preferences of customers. For example, in October 2024, the bank, together with Ant International, launched cross-border QR code payments. The transactions were set to take place between NBC’s Bakong payment system and Ant International’s Alipay+ platform.

The initiative intended to enable users of 12 international payment apps, including, Alipay, AlipayHK, eWallet, and GCash, among others, to conduct payments to over one million merchants in Cambodia by scanning KHQR codes. Before this, more specifically at the end of August 2023, the NBC and Bank of the LAO PDR (BOL) introduced the initial phase of cross-border QR code payments in Laos. The move worked towards meeting the objective of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to encourage the use of national currencies in the markets, thus participating in scaling financial inclusion and utilising Cambodia and Laos’ economic and financial relations in the digital context.

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