Officials from the central banks of Laos and Cambodia join development partners at a ceremony held in Vientiane on Friday to launch the cross-border payment system.

Laos, Cambodia launch cross-border QR code payment scheme
 
The purchase of goods and services by Cambodian nationals in Laos will be easier following the introduction of a cross-border QR code payment system agreed to by the two countries.
 The first phase, namely KHQR scan LAOQR, will allow Cambodian nationals visiting Laos to pay for goods and services by scanning QR codes at shops that display the QR code of a bank that offers payment services.
The second phase, known as Laos scan Cambodia (LAOQR scan KHQR), is expected to be rolled out in the fourth quarter of this year so that Lao nationals can make payments in Cambodia using a similar system.
The KHQR scan LAOQR scheme was developed by the central banks of Laos and Cambodia after a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in financial innovation and payment systems was signed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last year.
The MOU proposed the development of financial and payment technology to enable easier payments in the two countries, as well as regionally and globally.
The deal will also support the use of the Lao kip and Khmer riel for the payment of goods and services through QR code payments.
The cross-border payment system links Laos and Cambodia through a switching of two systems between the mobile cross-bank payment system of the Lao National Payment Network Co., Ltd. (LAPNet) and a system of Cambodia’s ACILIDA Bank, namely Sponsoring.
Cambodians can currently make payments in Laos through eight banks, namely BCEL, ACLEDA Bank Lao, Kbank Lao, BIC, APB, LVB, Indochina and STB, using the Cambodia scan Laos (KHQR scan LAOQR) system.
The KHQR scan LAOQR system was officially launched following the 13th meeting between the Bank of the Lao PDR and the National Bank of Cambodia, which took place in Vientiane on Friday.
Those attending the meeting included the Governor of the Bank of the Lao PDR, Dr Bounleua Sinxayvoravong; Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, Ms Chea Serey; officials from ACLEDA Bank Lao and ACLEDA Bank Cambodia; representatives of LAPNet, and commercial banks in Laos.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed issues relating to macroeconomics, monetary policy implementation, economic development, foreign exchange management policy, development of the banking sector, and the development of personnel.
Attendees also heard about the progress made in linking payment systems between Laos and Cambodia, a report on cooperation between the two central banks in recent times, and the plan of work for 2023.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update August 21, 2023)