Banking and financial services

The central bank hopes to launch its central shared switch mechanism next month after a trial run that has already connected the account records of three of the Kingdom’s leading financial institutions, allowing them to operate ATM and point-of-sale (POS) terminals in tandem, according to ...

Banking and financial industry figures have called on the government to abolish the 10 percent value added tax on the sector and asked for further discussion. The industry thinks the tax will increase the burden on financial service users. ...

The central banks of Cambodia and South Korea signed an agreement on Friday to jointly conduct research and analyse the relationship between exchange rates and inflation in the Cambodian economy, according to bank officials. ...

The central bank has issued new regulations governing the licensing of payment services providers (PSPs), requiring that all firms providing online services to accept electronic payments have at least $2 million in registered capital, a move expected to increase the stability of the sector and ...

Access to credit would increase dramatically if Cambodian borrowers could put up movable assets as collateral, but lenders say much more needs to be done to remove the risks associated with these assets, including the establishment of a legal framework that would restrict changes in ...

Stringent capital controls imposed by China’s central bank last November that scrutinise the outbound flow of money from the mainland have created uncertainty for Chinese investors looking at the Cambodian market and could jeopardise future and existing projects. ...

Financial institutions that were abruptly ordered to change their logos earlier this year due to the perceived similarities with state iconography have begun issuing new bank cards to their clients free of charge. ...

Banking sector leaders have expressed concern over a new government decree that places additional fees on financial services, warning that the costs of what some have described as an “impractical and inefficient” tax would likely be passed along to consumers. ...

Cambodia’s central bank is to conduct on-site audits of microfinance institutions to check if they are complying with the interest rate cap that came into force more than two months ago, industry insiders have said.   ...

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 ...