Visitors take photos at Angkor Thom’s south gate this week. ANA
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) will launch the Bakong mobile payment system for international tourists to facilitate their spending while visiting Cambodia, confirmed NBC governor Chea Serey today (July 19).
Speaking at the NBC half-year review, she stated that the programme will be promoted at airports and entry points, with international visitors able to download it upon arrival.
"Soon, we will have a system for tourists, which means that when [they] arrive, they can download our application. If they do not have a local banking app to transfer money to the Bakong system, they can use credit cards from their home countries, such as Visa, MasterCard or UnionPay, to do so.
"The launch will make it easier for tourists to use and provide them with a digital and cashless experience. Some people often view Cambodia as a poor, small country with nothing to offer. But when they arrive, we want them to use Bakong and manage their spending as easily as our local people,” Serey said.
The application also addresses issues some tourists have faced when trying to use large banknotes, especially in Siem Reap province, a major tourist attraction in Cambodia.
The date for launching the programme has not yet been determined. The initiative follows a request from vendors in Siem Reap who complained to Prime Minister Hun Manet about the difficulty of spending foreign money that was slightly torn or dirty. He instructed Serey to find a solution.
“The prime minister [told] me to look into the issue. I accept his recommendation and will continue to work with all stakeholders, as the judgment of old or torn banknotes depends on each bank teller's discretion," Serey said.
Chhort Bunthang, a Cultural Relations, Tourism and Education research officer at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, believes that the launch of the system for tourists can alleviate some of the difficulties they have faced. He said this is a step in the right direction for addressing some issues in the tourism sector.
"For me, this is a good initiative to help tourists, because we are now in the digital age, the AI age and the ICT age that we need to keep up with. Therefore, tourists from Western countries can easily pay in cash or through digital systems,” he said.
