UnionPay connects with Cambodia’s central bank over QR code interoperability
UnionPay International (UPI), a subsidiary of China’s UnionPay, is joining the National Bank of Cambodia in promoting QR code interoperability between the two countries.
UnionPay joins Cambodia’s national QR system
This agreement was confirmed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city, this week.
The focus of the agreement is to provide better support for residents of both countries in making and receiving cross-border mobile payments. In this, UnionPay is now allowing Cambodian residents to make payments with e-wallets in their home country using its global QR network.
This global QR network includes China, and UnionPay hopes that this increased functionality will satisfy Cambodians’ mobile payment needs when they visit China or other destinations in the network.
Additionally, UnionPay’s payment information and mobile payment services are to be integrated into KHQR, Cambodia’s national QR system, and Bakong, its national mobile payment system.
With this increased functionality, KHQR merchants in Cambodia will be able to accept payments from UnionPay-powered wallets and other Chinese-mainland banking apps connected to the payment platform, significantly improving the mobile payment experience of UnionPay cardholders visiting Cambodia.
For residents, the agreement allows them to use the Bakong members’ payment apps to complete payments in Cambodia, China and for cross-border purchases.
At present, UnionPay is high among some of Cambodia’s most popular payment tools. Its services are accepted by around 90% of the country’s merchants and is compatible with local banks including ABA, ACLEDA and Canadia.
Elsewhere, UPI has also collaborated with the QR code networks of South Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia and Europe amid the gradual recovery of cross-border traffic.
The company has been actively encouraging network linkage and payment integration within these territories as a means to enable mutual payment acceptance.
These collaborations ultimately allow Chinese tourists to pay with UnionPay wallets at QR merchants in these countries, and at the same time enable acceptance of international wallets at global UnionPay QR merchants.
