Cambodia Investment Review
Under the guidance of the People’s Bank of China and the National Bank of Cambodia, UnionPay continues to strengthen cross-border payment infrastructure between the two countries. This collaboration has led to Southeast Asia’s first successful implementation of bidirectional QR code payment interoperability. In the first quarter of 2025, transaction value via Yun San Fu Wallet and UnionPay-enabled wallets in Cambodia more than doubled year-on-year, reaching a historic high. As a flagship initiative under the Belt and Road framework, the China-Cambodia QR code interoperability project is playing an increasingly vital role in facilitating people-to-people exchanges and deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
The project, jointly implemented by UnionPay and Cambodian institutions under the strategic guidance of both central banks, has been rapid progress. In November 2023, the People’s Bank of China and the National Bank of Cambodia signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Financial Innovation and Payment Systems, outlining collaboration across payment clearing and related domains. The following month, UnionPay and the National Bank of Cambodia announced that Cambodia’s QR code standard, KHQR, now supports Yun San Fu Wallet and over 200 UnionPay-enabled wallets, including those of major commercial banks. Since its launch, the usage of QR code payments has expanded significantly, with transaction volume in the first quarter of 2025 doubling year-on-year and the total transaction value increasing more than twofold.
Cambodia’s Official Digital Payment System
In March 2025, UnionPay and the National Bank of Cambodia announced that Bakong-based wallets, Cambodia’s official digital payment system, are now accepted across UnionPay’s global QR code network and can be used for QR payments at Weixin Pay (Wechat Pay) merchants in China. This marked the first-ever two-way QR code interoperability deployment in Southeast Asia, serving as a model government-to-government (G2G) cross-border payment cooperation. Since then Bakong wallet usage has seen a steady uptick in key Chinese consumer sectors including dining, retail, and tourism, positioning it as a preferred cross-border payment option for Cambodian users.
Since entering Cambodia in 2008, UnionPay has built a comprehensive and inclusive payment ecosystem, now covering nearly all merchant POS terminals and 80% of ATMs in the country. In tandem with expanding acceptance infrastructure, UnionPay has fast-tracked its localization efforts – local banks have cumulatively issued hundreds of thousands of UnionPay cards. With QR interoperability now in place, Cambodian consumers are increasingly able to enjoy seamless domestic and cross-border payments using their familiar local wallet app.
QR-Based Cross-Border Interoperability
To date, UnionPay has launched and promoted QR-based cross-border interoperability partnership with 19 countries and regions, bringing the number of QR-enabled UnionPay merchants overseas to over 10 million. These networks support everyday scenarios such as food and beverage, retail, and transportation, forming a vibrant cross-border payment ecosystem. Looking forward, UnionPay will continue collaborating with local partners to optimize user experience, expand merchants and user bases, and maximize the scale benefits of two-way interoperability, ultimately enhancing consumer convenience and financial inclusion.
As the global payments industry embraces digitization, UnionPay remains committed to its national mission. Driven by technological innovation and standardization, UnionPay is tackling “small but crucial” cross-border payment challenges to support China’s broader strategy of China’s opening-up. In doing so, it contributes financial infrastructure and expertise to the development of new dual-circulation growth model, seamlessly linking domestic and international markets.
