Banking and financial services

Aceleda Bank, Cambodia’s largest bank by assets, reported a net profit of $28.39 million in first quarter this year, down slightly from $30.19 million in the same period in 2016, according to the bank’s latest financial report. ...

Acleda Bank has provided $40 million to customers in the form of housing loans since the start of 2017, marking a growing trend of home loans being taken out across the country. ...

The Papua New Guinea-based Bank South Pacific has announced its expansion into Asia with its first Cambodian branch. ...

Mizuho Bank, one of largest banks in Japan, has started operations in Cambodia with its first branch in Phnom Penh. ...

Bank South Pacific (BSP), Papua New Guinea’s largest bank, signed a joint venture deal with RMA Cambodia to enter the Cambodian asset finance market, according to a media report yesterday. ...

Cash may be king in Cambodia, but Pi Pay Asia is banking on rising smartphone penetration and an arsenal of digital payment solutions to help dethrone it.The company’s soon-to-be-released mobile-phone application provides a one-stop platform for cashless transactions, digital money transfers and e-wallet solutions, while ...

Acleda Bank spent about $1 million to produce 800,000 new ATM cards with EMV chips to enable them to be used globally and also to mitigate the risk of fraud, said the bank’s president and group managing director on Friday. ...

The government is working on legislation that would create a framework for the establishment of a custodian bank in Cambodia, according to securities firms, which claim the absence of this institution could be deterring foreign investors from participating in share offerings on the local stock ...

Rent Japan Group Inc, a publicly listed Japanese company that specializes in the recycling and reuse of consumer products, will establish a joint venture with a Japanese financial services firm to launch a new leasing company in Cambodia, it said in a filing yesterday to ...

After several years of rapid growth, the expansion of credit provided by the Kingdom’s myriad microfinance institutions (MFIs) stalled abruptly last year, raising concerns poorer Cambodians could be pushed toward loan sharks to obtain credit or cover their debts, the World Bank said in its ...

About 300 victims of an alleged Ponzi scheme filed complaints with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the Justice Ministry and the National Assembly on Monday asking for the government’s help in recouping their losses. ...

While financial inclusion is a top priority for emerging economies, new research suggests more stringent enforcement of anti-money regulations in recent years has resulted in major Western banks disconnecting from these regions, leaving local businesses without access to the international financial system. ...

A conservation NGO official yesterday said he planned to ask microfinance lenders to better scrutinise their loans after a spate of cases over the last month showed that such loans had been used by illegal loggers to purchase chainsaws and tractors for transporting timber. ...

Acleda Bank on Tuesday launched a smart phone app in an effort to reach low-income earners who do not use banks.​ Unity ToanChet, a Fin-Tech application, lets customers carry out transactions anywhere and at any time. ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) is planning to form a joint committee chaired by government officials and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to promote small loan disbursements as the new 18 percent loan interest rate cap takes effect, according to an announcement released by the ...

Cambodian microlender Hattha Kaksekar Ltd (HKL) has secured a $15 million cash injection to expand its business operations from its parent company, Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya, Hout Ieng Tong, president and CEO of HKL, confirmed yesterday.  ...

The National Bank of Cambodia will develop a blockchain-based payment system with help from a Japanese financial technology startup to offer people a secure, low-cost way of sending and receiving money.   ...

Cambodia’s financial sector saw healthy growth last year with increased deposits and profits amid slower credit growth, reflecting sustainable development and increased public confidence in the sector, according to a recently released central bank report. ...

Smart Axiata Co., Ltd. and AIA (Cambodia) Life Insurance Plc. have jointly announced a long-term partnership in bringing differentiated life insurance products and services to people in Cambodia to meet their growing financial protection and long-term saving needs.   ...

With the interest rate cap of 18 percent in full force for all new and restructured microfinance loans after the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) issued a populist measure to curb high interest rates, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are starting to give predictions for lower profits ...

Sathapana Bank Plc has received a hefty $50 million bilateral loan from the Bangkok branch of Mizuho Bank, a subsidiary of one of Japan’s largest financial institutions, in a move that banking insiders say will help the newly consolidated bank expand its lending portfolio as ...

 Just months ahead of local elections, the Cambodian government has ordered the microfinance industry to cap interest rates on new and refinanced loans at 18 percent a year starting April 1. ...

The apex body for the nation’s microfinance industry announced yesterday that the central bank had tentatively agreed to a number of measures it had requested to ease the burden on microfinance lenders following last week’s unilateral decision to cap annual interest rates at 18 percent ...

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation will start dispensing pensions for former civil servants and veterans at select ATMs starting in April. Minister Vong Soth issued a notice yesterday stating that pensioners will be able to withdraw their monthly allocations from Canadia Bank ...