The first publicly listed Acleda Bank Plc has geared up its process to develop a QR Code for cross-border payment among the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), said a senior official of the bank.
Commissioned by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) – Cambodia’s monetary authority and central bank – the Acleda Bank Plc will develop a QR Code for cross-border payment between the Kingdom and Vietnam and the Kingdom and Laos, while the bank’s QR Code has been already in use in Thailand since it was launched in February 2020.
In Channy, President & Group Managing Director of Acleda Bank Plc, said that the central bank has selected the local commercial bank to develop QR Code which is “under development” for cross-border payments in two of the ASEAN members—Vietnam and Laos—in addition to Thailand. The bank was listed on the country’s bourse Cambodia Securities Exchange in May 2020 and has dominated CSX.
“We were selected by [the central bank] to do two more countries and we are working with them. We will introduce the same cross-border payment QR code.
When our people who go to these three countries they no longer need to exchange currencies there, but just use direct payment from Acleda QR code,” said Channy.
According to Channy, currently Acleda Bank Plc has not only been developing its own banking and financial technology to serve its customers but also working with NBC and other government agencies to develop digital payment systems in the interest of the public as it has technical and expertise inputs.
“We have our in-house engineering teams who have been working with the central bank’s team. This is one of the reasons why we can launch the national QR code and we will continue working together to complete the first task. For the second task, we will develop the cross-border payment in each of the ten countries of the Asean,” he said, referring to the national QR Code to KHQR launched by NBC.
The Kingdom has a national QR Code that will further support Cambodia’s banking and financial industries for customers to consume services more conveniently using only one QR Code that customers of every bank can use commonly after each bank in the country accepts the usage of the common QR Code.
“Actually, we already have it, but banks still claim to use their respective one at their counter even though one QR can be used by many banks. I think with intervention by the central bank, there will be only a national QR Code for everyone,” he said, adding that a bank in Thailand planned to develop its QR Code in Cambodia in the second half of last year, but due to the uptick of Covid-19 pandemic, it postponed the plan to the end of this year.
Cambodians can pay in Riel in Thailand by scanning the QR code to release payments up 5 million riels per day via ACLEDA ToanChet account and 10 million riels per day through ACLEDA Bank’s account.
Acleda Bank Plc’s technical teams have experience working with such teams of the General Department of Taxation and on behalf of the Association of Banks in Cambodia in developing tax app and Phnom Penh Capital Hall for digital payment app for collecting trash collection fee.
“However, we do not claim or want to be a sole payment bank for all these purposes. We want to work with other banks to share a common QR so the residents or house owners can make payments,” he said.
Chea Serey, director general of NBC, gave a demonstration in using mobile app of Acleda Bank Plc to make cross-border payment to a vendor in Thailand through a video with caption last month. “Don’t want to carry cash? [No] problem. Here paying my boat noodles with QR code in Thailand from my account with a bank in Cambodia,” she wrote.
Phal Sokchamroeun, Vice President & Deputy Head of Marketing Division of Acleda Bank Plc, told Khmer Times that the bank has also been developing another cross-border payment system through QR Code for those who use banking and financial services of banks in Thailand to be able to make payment in Cambodia also.
“I have seen that banking
and financial sectors have grown vastly. It is possible to say that it has more modernised than Japan,” said Uematsu Hiroshi, CEO of Royal Group Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (Royal Group PPSEZ).
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
