Having partnered with Bakong – the innovative blockchain-based inter-bank platform enabling fluid payments between traditional banks and other financial institutions in Cambodia – Wing continues to lead the way in providing electronic payment services as we enter 2021.

Bakong users can now transfer money from their bank accounts into their Wing wallets and take it out using the thousands of Wing agents across the Kingdom.

“Cambodians with any bank or fintech account can now transfer money to each other and use the ecosystems developed by other financial institutions.

“For example, anyone in Cambodia with a bank account can now transfer money to their Wing wallet and use the nearly 9,000 Wing agents across the country to cash it out, making Wing the default ‘human ATM’ of the Kingdom,” Wing CEO Manu Rajan told The Post.

Pioneered by the National Cambodia Bank (NBC) to unify the digital financial landscape, Bakong promises to enhance the efficiency and safety of payments, boost financial inclusion and promote cashless transactions in riel.

Bakong is part of the NBC’s plans to achieve its long-term goals of further promoting the riel in the economy and advancing the Cambodian digital economy.

“Wallets like Wing’s provide options for both dollar and riel accounts for customers – and so does Bakong.

“Now customers can seamlessly transfer money and use it for digital transactions without having to worry about the conversion rates as the rates are transparent and benchmark from the NBC’s rates on wallets like Wing’s,” Manu said.

Wing CEO Manu Rajan.

Eighteen financial institutions nationwide are now members of Bakong. New users can download Bakong on the App Store and Google Play, or through the Bakong website at https://bakong.nbc.org.kh.

Wing is bringing its 12 years of experience and millions of users – from both the Kingdom’s banked and unbanked segments – to contribute to the success of Bakong.

“Wing is happy to be the first ever fintech organisation to have partnered with Bakong. Bakong makes money transfers between financial institutions very easy and almost real time.

“Bakong provides easy inter-operability for Cambodia’s financial institutions. That in itself goes a long way in enabling easy access to cash sources for digital payments,” said Manu.

The NBC has said one of the reasons for the introduction of Bakong is because “the current payment infrastructure does not allow cross-platform transfers and the transaction cost is relatively high, which is not convenient for low-income people and those in rural areas”.

And Manu believes Bakong is perfectly placed to fill this gap.

“The cost of mobile financial services currently is mainly for cash out or aided digital transactions using agents. Once customers learn to use the app for digital transactions, it will drastically bring down costs.

“And with the range of options for digital payments, we are sure Bakong will help Cambodia embrace digital payments in a much faster way and help drive up financial inclusion as well,” the mobile banking systems expert said.

With the Kingdom’s only all-in-one payment and banking app, anyone with any bank or MFI account can now make use of the extensive range of mobile money services and products that Wing offers – be it to pay school fees and utility bills, make loan and insurance payments, and so much more.

The introduction of Bakong is proving timely, coming as it does with Cambodia and the rest of the world in the grip of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“Now the customers of all banks can transfer money into their Wing wallet through Bakong and make use of the vast ecosystem of safe payment options Wing has created for them, without having to visit any physical touch points.

“Customers now can transfer money to more mature wallets like Wing seamlessly from any of the participating banks instantly and use it to make their payments.

“By avoiding physical cash, they are really helping the country and themselves stay clear of the pandemic,” Manu said.