The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has launched the Bakong Tourists app to extend visitors’ payment options through its blockchain-based Bakong payment system. The app will work within the Chinese UnionPay system and in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, in addition to Cambodia.

There are only 55,000 point-of-sale (PoS) systems in Cambodia, a country with a population of 16.8 million. Credit cards cannot be used without a PoS, and there are only 5,600 ATMs in the country to provide cash. The Bakong app allows users to make purchases with QR codes at 3.3 million locations.

The increasing convenience of using Bakong

In addition to purchases, Bakong Tourists allows users to send and receive money, deposit funds into their bank accounts, track transactions and convert funds between US dollars and Cambodian riels. Bakong Tourists users will have a spending limit of $500 a day, which can be raised to $3,000 after the user undergoes Know Your Customer verification, which requires a photo and copy of the user’s passport.

The app can be downloaded from the Google or Apple stores. Users register by email and add funds to their Bakong accounts through a partner, such as a bank, hotel or travel agent. NBC governor Chea Serey said NBC is looking to make an agreement with an international settlement company to link Bakong Tourists accounts with international payment cards.

Serey said agreements are expected to be made with Malaysia later in August and South Korea in September to allow users from those countries to link their domestic accounts with Bakong Tourists.

Soramitsu’s expanding regional payments vision

NBC launched Bakong in 2020 in conjunction with the Japanese blockchain Soramitsu. The Bakong system was used as the model for the Lao DLak, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that was launched as a proof-of-concept in 2023.

Bakong was also envisioned as the base for a regional payment system that would encompass India, China, Fiji and the Solomon Islands, as well as the countries the Bakong has already been established. Soramitsu has provided support for the Solomon Islands’ Bokolo Cash CBDC proof-of-concept and research by the Reserve Bank of Fiji for the launch of a CBDC in that island nation.

Bakong Tourists download instructions. Source: National Bank of Cambodia

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