Pay with a QR code in Thailand from a bank account in Cambodia!
Serey Chea, Director General of the National Bank of Cambodia, recently posted on LinkedIn a video showing her using KHQR to make a payment in Thailand.
She wrote,
“Don’t want to carry cash? No problem. Paying for my boat noodles with QR code in Thailand from my account with a bank in Cambodia. Debit from my KHR account pay in THB.
Payment made easy by ACLEDA and SCB cooperation with the support from Cambodia and Thailand central banks. For now, payments can only be done with SCB merchants. Soon, we hope to expand the reach to between all THQR and KHQR users.”
What is KHQR?
According to the central bank, KHQR is a universal quick response (QR) code system developed for retail payments in the Kingdom and cross-border payments within the ASEAN region.
Because they are quick, simple, and safe, QR code solutions have quickly gained popularity during Covid-19, especially among young people who are able to adopt new technology.
In order to enable cross-bank payments, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) formally introduced the KHQR system after a trial run. The NBC urged businesses and consumers to take advantage of this achievement to promote financial technological developments in the banking and finance sector.
In accordance with the Cambodian Digital Economy and Society Policy Framework 2021–2035 and the National Strategy on Financial Environment 2019–2025, QR code payments have also assisted in enhancing the financial environment.
The development of KHQR reportedly involved 37 banking and financial institutions that are members of NBC’s Bakong payment app.
29 of those institutions were successful in launching a nationwide trial for the KHQR payment for goods with 230,000 merchant outlets.
The NBC said that nationwide electronic payment transactions of 415.5 trillion riel ($102 billion) were made last year in its 2021 Financial Stability Review.
The number of e-wallet accounts reached 13.6 million, or more than 80% of the total population, marking a growth of 34.5% year over year.
