Like in many of its neighboring countries (Thailand, Vietnam and Laos), cashless payments in Cambodia are available with several companies are competing in this new fintech market. These cashless payments can potentially be adopted quickly as many Cambodians do not have a bank account. This could be a solution also to boost e-commerce as some companies are proposing a virtual credit card. 2020 saw some consolidation in this young sector.
These apps usually propose two types of cashless transactions:
Transfer of money to a third party (person or company)
Payment for services or goods at a merchant place.
ABA Bank, the e-banking leader in Cambodia launched its mobile app called ABA mobile in 2015. It was designed for ABA customers to make payments, transfers and pay bills. The app is working quite well, very secure and have several other features.
One called E-cash is useful as it allow you to withdraw money to an ATM without using your banking card. There is also a New Virtual Card service which allow you to have a virtual Mastercard and shop online.
You can of course make transfer between your account or to another account in ABA Bank. As ABA bank signed agreements with other cashless payment companies you can transfer money to your Pi Pay, PayGo wallet and SmartLuy.
References
ABA Bank, Cambodia’s leader in digital banking. Phnom Penh Post. Accessed 16.10.2018 at https://www.phnompenhpost.com/supplements/aba-bank-cambodias-leader-digital-banking
ABA: financial power in your palm . South East Asia Globe. Accessed 16.10.2018 at http://sea-globe.com/aba-financial-power-in-your-palm/
Pi Pay
Pi Pay, owned by Anco Group conglomerate, was launched in July 2017 in the Kingdom and have developed quickly through the main cities of Cambodia with a network of merchants. Few months after in December 2017, Pi Pay signed a deal with AliPay that will allow their customers to pay at the Pi Pay merchants in an attempt to target the growing number of Chinese tourists in Cambodia. In July 2020, Pi Pay merged with SmartLuy , a subsidiary of SMART Axiata company.
Cashless payment: yes
Send money to third party: yes
Bill payment: yes
E-wallet limit: Regular: USD 100 Standard: USD 250 Plus: USD 5000
Suitable for tourist: yes (with a local sim card)
Top-up mobile: yes (Smart)
How to top-up Pi Pay (cash in) ?
Using the map section of the app, you have to find a cash-in point. Then all you have to do is pin on the screen your wallet number (phone number) and introduce bills (USD only) in the machine. The minimum deposit is USD 5. As of October 2018, Siem Reap has only 7 cash-in points, many more are in Phnom Penh.
How to cash out Pi Pay ?
You can cash out only at a very limited numbers of merchants (like Swensen ice cream). You can cash out up to USD 250 at the Pi Pay office in Siem Reap with a fee of 30c.
The other option if you have a ABA bank account, is to use the app to transfer the money to your bank account with a fee of 10 cents.
How do you pay with Pi Pay?
Merchants have a credit card terminal look alike. They enter the amount you need to pay then you can either scan the QR code or they scan yours. In either way you will need to enter your pin code to make the final payment. Merchant will give you a printed receipt from their Pi Pay terminal.
We found that the easier way to pay was when .. not using your phone. Simply enter your phone number on the the PiPay terminal following by your pin code and you are all set!
We like
PayGO kiosks cash-in-points.
Discounts for PiPay members at the many accredited merchants
Map on the app to find cash-in points
Flashy design
Fast Smart mobile top-up
Possibility to paid without your phone
We do not like
The lack of shops offering discounts in Siem Reap
POS Pi Pay terminal
Our review of Pi Pay (Siem Reap only)
We were quite excited to try Pi Pay in Siem Reap but our enthusiasm felt flat quickly. There is only few few cash in points in town and when asked in one shop, they could not top-up my account.
Only few businesses in Siem Reap are showing the pink sticker. We experienced a lack of training from the staff to process payments and in one instance we had to give up as it was much quicker to pay cash. Some are asking also a minimum payment to be able to pay with PiPay which is not mandatory….
One of the biggest let down of Pi Pay in Siem Reap is certainly the lack of discounts at the merchants. With no incentives, it is difficult to see how Pi Pay will catch up in temple town. Hopefully something will do done about that in the near future. In December 2018, Pipay opened an office in Siem Reap.
Where can you get discounts in Siem Reap with Pi Pay?
By paying with PiPay you can get 20% off on movie tickets and food at the movie theater of the Heritage Walk in Siem Reap
References
Jack Ma’s Alipay agrees partnership with Cambodia’s PiPay. South East Asia Globe. Accessed 12.10.2018 at http://sea-globe.com/alipay-pipay-cambodia/
Making cashless trendy in Cambodia: the story of Pi Pay. E27. Accessed 12.10.2018 at https://e27.co/making-cashless-trendy-cambodia-story-pi-pay-20180903/
Pi Pay, ABA in digital deal. Khmer Times. Accessed 16.10.2018 at https://www.khmertimeskh.com/5085847/pi-pay-aba-digital-deal/
PayGo Wallet
PayGo SEA under the brand name PayGo wallet was an early entrant of the cashless market in Cambodia in 2013. Its focus was to set up kiosks that still exist today to transfer money and pay bills. One of the main attraction of PayGo is that they propose a virtual Mastercard you can use to make purchases on the internet: Itunes, App Store, Air Asia, Facebook, AliExpress, PayPal, Steam and Play Store.
How to top-up PayGo ?
You can top-up at the cash-in kiosks (the ones also used by Pi Pay) with USD bills or use the ABA mobile or Truemoney apps.
References
Pay&Go Aims to Streamline Bill Payments With New Services. Cambodia Daily. Accessed 12.10.2018 at https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/paygo-aims-to-streamline-bill-payments-with-new-services-44794/
Smart Axiata, one the main Telco company in Cambodia launched SmartLuy, its cashless mobile app in 2015. It is mainly used for mobile, send money to a third phone (using a phone number) and pay bills. The merger between Smart Luy and Pi Pay was approved in July 2020, Smart staying a minority holder in the company.
References
SmartLuy official page. Accessed 18.10.2018. https://www.smart.com.kh/more/smartluy/
Paying water bills with SmartLuy. Khmer Times. Accessed 19.10.2018. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/5078932/paying-water-bills-smartluy/
Wingpay is one of lasted entrant in the Cambodian cashless payment industry in 2018. Wing is a well known and established company since 2009 which allow to send money with a mobile number using one of its 5000 + transfer agents in Cambodia. You can create your Wing account from the app and then you are ready to send money directly from your cell phone.
A section called Business payment on the app allows you to send money to a quite large list of registered businesses and individuals. You can also pay your electricity and internet bill.
You can topup your account from your phone using your bank account (Amret bank only available)
Cashless payment: yes
Send money to third party: yes
Bill payment: yes
Suitable for tourist: yes (with a local sim card)
Top-up mobile: yes
References
Wing: Leading the charge on financial inclusion in Cambodia. South-East Globe. Accessed 23.10.2018. http://sea-globe.com/wing-cambodia/
Wing launches mobile payment platform. Phnom Penh Post. Accessed 23.10.2018. https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/wing-launches-mobile-payment-platform.
Launched in 2018, True money app is another platform to do cashless payments: transfer money, pay good, top-up mobile phone (Smart). You can top-up your account at the PayGO kiosks cash-in-points.
References
TrueMoney launches app.Khmer Times. Accessed 23.10.2018. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/297919/truemoney-launches-app/
