After witnessing strong growth in its first year of operations, digital wallet and payment platform DaraPay is chalking a bigger strategy by rolling out more financial products to serve its customers next year.

The company is bullish about the Kingdom’s mobile payment sector and plans to expand further – from its current 2,600 agents nationwide and 1,600 merchants who accept digital payments.

DaraPay General Manager Phok Ratha told The Post that by end of next year, it plans to increase the number of agents to 5,200 and merchants by 4,500.

“The type of financial solutions that are in our key pipeline for 2019 includes growing financial ecosystem that enables customers to utilise our financial products – ranging from loan referral, loan disbursement, collections and supporting branchless banking,” said Ratha.

DaraPay, a Cambodian financial services company, focuses on local remittance (Wei Luy) and merchant payment services, and provides a fast, secure and convenient payment ecosystem for its customers.

Its customers are also able to perform cash-in and cash-out services, airtime top-ups, loan repayments and bill payments.

“Through DaraPay, thousands of people and families in both provinces and urban cities are sending money anywhere, anytime in a secured and convenient method which gives them peace of mind.

“At the same time, DaraPay offers digital payment solution, making Cambodia a soon to be-cashless-society and offers secure payment options to Cambodians at all walks of life,” he added.  

The favourable economic conditions, growing tech savvy society and rising consumerism, are all propelling the Kingdom’s financial sector and the demand for electronic payment system is on the rise as well.  

Mobile payment platforms are becoming popular, especially among the unbanked and underbanked segments, as it provides easy and cost-effective way to move money across the country.

And, financial technology firms are capitalising on the prevailing demographic advantage and high level of technology adoption, especially the proliferation of mobile phones.  

According to the Open Institute study titled “Mobile Phones and Internet Use in Cambodia 2016”, “the Cambodian phone market is saturated, with over 96 per cent of Cambodians claiming to own their own phone and more than 99 per cent reachable through some sort of phone”.

Ratha adds: “There is a significant rise in demand [for] mobile payment in the Kingdom. Cambodia is a country with a young population where the majority of the people are aged below 30 years old and many of them use smart phone[s] both in urban and key cities.

“Because of the availability of internet and its affordable price, the growth in smart phone users and with this young population [who] are more tech savvy, in the future Cambodia will be mobile payment based country. We strongly believe there is a big potential in this sector”.

Mobile payment platforms are certainly providing valuable financial services, both in urban and rural areas, especially in Cambodia where less than 20 per cent of the population have bank accounts.   

While mobile payment operators are shifting the landscape of the financial sector, competition is also heating up in the industry, as local and international players begin to crowd the market.

Companies such as Grabpay, Wing Group, Smartluy, PiPay and Bongluy are jostling to serve some 16 million people.

In August this year, DaraPay launched the merchant payment which enables customers to scan and pay via DaraPay eWallet.

Later in December, DaraPay signed a partnership with popular Dutch jewelry-maker Sandara for cashless payment facilities at Pandora and Bering outlets, which were launched earlier this month. in Phnom Penh.

“Fintech development has drawn a lot attention not only in Cambodia but all over the world. For us as an eWallet company, we enable merchants and customers to receive and pay digitally.

“Through partnership with international companies like Sandara, DaraPay offers a convenient payment option for customers. As a matter of fact, this electronic payment reduces the burden to carry a lot of cash and receiving cash.

“Following our mission, DaraPay aims to revolutionise day-to-day finance by providing a fast, secure and convenient payment ecosystem that creates value.

“This cooperation with international brand signifies our mission clearly and we are optimistic that there will be more business partners joining us in the near future,” he added.  

DaraPay is a trademark of Canadia-Fullerton Mobile Money Plc, a joint venture between Canadia Investment Holding of Cambodia and Fullerton Financial Capital, a subsidiary of Fullerton Financial. Holdings of Singapore.