UnionPay signs MOU with the National Bank of Cambodia

Aiming to better support the residents of both countries, the collaboration is set to enable Cambodian residents to make payments with e-wallets from their home country within UnionPay’s global QR network which includes China, addressing their need for mobile payments when visiting China or elsewhere.

UnionPay International – National Bank of Cambodia MOU details

Based on the information detailed in the press release, UnionPay payment information is set to be integrated into the Cambodian QR so that local QR merchants can accept payments from the UnionPay app and China-based banking apps that are connected to the UnionPay App Network Payment Platform.

Accepted by over 90% of merchants in Cambodia, and with numerous cards issued by local banks of the likes of ABA, ACLEDA, and Canadia, UnionPay is amongst the preferred payment tool of the country’s residents. The current MOU includes UPI’s and the central bank’s agreement to integrate UnionPay mobile payment services into Bakong’s e-wallets, Cambodia’s national mobile payment system. In the time to come, Cambodian residents are to be enabled to leverage Bankong members’ payment apps for simplified payments in Cambodia and China, as well as for cross-border purchases.

The two parties are also in agreement to jointly promote UnionPay payment info integration unto Cambodia’s national QR known as KHQR, to enable acceptance of UnionPay-powered wallets at KHQR merchants. The National Bank of Cambodia supported the development of KHQR, which has achieved full acceptance coverage in the country. Per the announcement, enabling UnionPay QR is believed to help better the mobile payment experience of UnionPay’s cardholders visiting Cambodia.

In recent years, UPI has been investing in business localisation and digitisation to provide quality payment services to increasingly more customers outside of the Chinese mainland. Currently, over 200 million UnionPay cards have been issued in 78 countries and regions outside the mainland, cards that can be leveraged at almost all POS terminals and ATMs in China.

In accordance with the changes in consumer payment behaviour, over 170 UnionPay-standard e-wallets were rolled out in more than 30 overseas countries and regions. As such, international cardholders are enabled to carry out QR or NFC payments in China directly with the tools they know, with no requirement for a new bank account or app.