Banking and financial services

More Cambodians took out home loans last year than the year before, prompting banks like ANZ Royal to provide specialized services for the growing sector.   ...

A legal framework that ensures a “sound, strong and efficient” financial sector has ensured the swift expansion of banking services throughout the country, but borrowing rates remain high and a large segment of the population – primarily those in rural areas – face difficulties accessing ...

The ruling CPP doubled down on Tuesday on its decision to cap interest rates on microfinance loans as a way to help the poor get out of debt, even as analysts called it a political move that would have long-term negative effects on the rural ...

The National Bank of Cambodia announced on Monday that it would set an annual interest rate ceiling of 18 percent for all microfinance institutions (MFIs), sparking concerns that lenders would stop offering smaller loans that often keep the most financially vulnerable afloat. ...

Sathapana Bank has pre-emptively removed its signature golden lion logo from all 162 branches nationwide as the private bank aims to deflect government criticism and avoid confusion as being identified as a state-owned institution, a bank executive said yesterday. ...

South Korea’s state-run deposit insurer opened its first overseas branch in Phnom Penh yesterday in a move to sell off the bank and property assets of Korean banks that went belly up in 2011. ...

In his office at the National Bank of Cambodia, Mr. Heng Bomakara recalls the early stages of the nation’s currency with fondness. He still remembers a time when coins were commonplace. First minted in aluminum and then later in steel, these coins are now a ...

Micro-Credit Ratings International Ltd (M-CRIL), an Indian provider of rating and advisory services to the microfinance industry, has secured a $1.5 million equity investment agreement from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to push into emerging markets including Cambodia, the ADB said in an announcement last ...

Bred Banque Populaire – part of the second-largest banking group in France – officially launched operations in Cambodia yesterday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its headquarters, marking the first venture of a European bank in the Kingdom since the late 1990s. ...

Two more foreign banks—one French and one Vietnamese—announced plans earlier this week to open branches in Cambodia.   ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday pulled the country’s mobile operators into his aggressive campaign to clear up any confusion about the relationship between the government and microfinance institutions (MFIs), ordering them to send audio and text messages telling subscribers that MFIs were private entities. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday ordered microfinance institute (MFI) Prasac, one of the largest in Cambodia, to change its logo immediately for fear that the public may confuse it as representing the government. ...

Acleda Bank will issue new ATM, debit and credit cards to all its customers nationwide with the new bank logo, in compliance with an order issued by the Council of Ministers, said the bank’s CEO yesterday. ...

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Lê Minh Hưng, and Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), Chea Chanto, have agreed to step up co-operation between the two banks. ...

ACLEDA Bank, Cambodia’s largest bank in terms of assets, will have to shell out millions in the next three weeks to comply with a Council of Ministers decision last Friday that the private financial institution must redesign and replace its logo on all company materials ...

With the Kingdom’s main rice harvesting season wrapping up, just a fraction of a government emergency loan package that aimed at giving millers the liquidity they needed to purchase rice paddy duringthe harvest cycle has been disbursed, leaving the government and private sector divided on ...

Kasikornbank (KBank), one of the largest banks in Thailand, officially unveiled its first branch in Phnom Penh with the aim of offering financial services to local businesses as well as corporate and retail customers. ...

Cambodia’s insurance industry saw record growth in 2016 and was valued at $113 million, according to a report from the Insurance Association of Cambodia (IAC). ...

The central bank’s efforts to foster development of an interbank lending market appears to be taking off as the demand for negotiable certificates of deposits (NCDs) increased sharply last year, with the financial tool seeing wider usage among the Kingdom’s financial institutions. ...

Advanced Bank of Asia Limited (ABA Bank of Cambodia) officially unveiled a new logo yesterday, as it builds on its majority ownership by the National Bank of Canada.The National Bank of Canada integrated the ABA Bank as part of its group after becoming the major ...

Six months since the central bank launched its FAST payment system, a new scheme to provide instant riel-denominated fund transfers between financial institutions and their clients, the bank recorded a total fund transfer of 10 billion riel ($2.5 million) as of end-2016. ...

Cambodia will begin applying for a loan from the newly established China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) from next year in response to the current need for infrastructure development. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) released its review of 2016 and outlook for 2017 this week, highlighting the continued large growth of the banking sector while warning that the Kingdom was still vulnerable to external economic factors. ...

International fund transfers to Cambodia through Acleda Bank, which claims to handle a quarter of all inbound fund transfers to the country, decreased slightly last year as a result of lower rice prices, a bank executive said yesterday. ...