Instead of each mobile banking app in Cambodia having its own QR code at checkout, now there’s just one – the KHQR code supported by the National Bank of Cambodia’s groundbreaking Bakong payments app. Launched in 2020, Bakong is often referred to as a CBDC system, but it’s not a CBDC given that around 80% of its payments are in U.S. dollars, with the balance in the local riel. And the local riel is a commercial bank rather than a central bank liability. Bakong is a peer-to-peer payment system.
After two years of work, the central bank formally launched the KHQR code on Monday. It was confusing for merchants to support numerous different QR codes depending on whether a consumer used one of the 50 or so bank mobile apps or the Bakong app. Now there’s just one code.
While consumers can still choose to pay using a banking app, if they scan a KHQR code, the payment backend now goes via the Bakong blockchain payment system. The 37 Bakong participant banks all support the new format. It can also be used for cross border payments.
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