Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - ACLEDA reports e-payments boom after Pay Me launch

ACLEDA reports e-payments boom after Pay Me launch

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
The ACLEDA Bank headquarters on the capital’s Monivong Boulevard, on December 2019. Hong Menea

ACLEDA reports e-payments boom after Pay Me launch

Locally-owned ACLEDA Bank Plc reported strong growth in digital and electronic payments, just a few days after it launched the new Pay Me function on its mobile app to make transactions easier and faster.

ACLEDA senior executive vice-president and group chief operations officer So Phonnary said the digital transactions processed by the bank last year amounted to 143.623 trillion riel ($35.030 billion), accounting for a 34 per cent market share. As of last month, the ACLEDA Mobile app has more than 2.5 million downloads.

She ascribed the positive results to the Covid-19 pandemic, a surge in digital and technological awareness and adoption amid an evolving scene, and Cambodians’ improving economic situations.

“Moreover, customers and suppliers are encouraged … to transact via digital banking channels as much as they are able to,” Phonnary said. “To promote such a strategy, customers are rewarded via many ways by [promotions] such as cash back, discounts, vouchers, and so on.”

Phonnary said the Pay Me feature would make it easier for merchants to request payment for customers via dynamic QR code, where the amount of payment and the receiver account have been determined. She said the feature also aims to improve efficiency, accuracy, and security.

According to the National Bank of Cambodia’s (NBC) 2021 Financial Sustainability Review (FSR), electronic payment transactions worth 415.5 trillion riel ($102 billion) were made nationwide last year, marking a 34.5 per cent rise over 2020, as the number of e-wallet accounts reached 13.6 million, amounting to more than 80 per cent of the total population.

The large proportion of young people with access to mobile devices and internet, coupled with supportive regulatory frameworks, have encouraged banks and financial institutions to introduce innovative digital payment services with agents across the country, which in turn has significantly helped boost financial inclusion, it added.

NBC assistant governor and director-general Chea Serey said at the FSR’s launch that fast-growing digital payment systems have facilitated the flow of goods and services transactions, adding that the resulting changes were most evident during the Covid-19 lockdowns last year.

She also pointed out that electronic payment transactions, including amounts in US dollars and the local currency, were equivalent to about 3.8 times the 2021 gross domestic product (GDP), suggesting a GDP estimate of roughly 110 trillion riel for last year.

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • Kampot curfew imposed to curb ‘gang’ violence

    Kampot provincial police have announced measures to contain a recent spike in antisocial behaviour by “unruly’ youth. Officials say the province has been plagued by recent violence among so-called “gang members”, who often fight with weapons such as knives and machetes. Several social observers have

  • PM outlines plans to discuss trade, policy during US visit

    Prime Minister Hun Manet is set to meet with senior US officials and business leaders during his upcoming visit to the US for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled for September 20. While addressing nearly 20,000 workers in Kampong Speu province, Manet said he aims to affirm

  • Manet touches down in Beijing for high-level meetings

    Prime Minister Hun Manet arrived in Beijing on September 14 for his first official visit to China, where he is slated to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo and meet other leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Upon his arrival, Manet laid a wreath at the Monument