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The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has launched the Bakong Tourists app to extend visitors’ payment options through its blockchain-based Bakong payment system. The app will work within the Chinese UnionPay system and in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, in addition to Cambodia.
There are only 55,000 point-of-sale (PoS) systems in Cambodia, a country with a population of 16.8 million. Credit cards cannot be used without a PoS, and there are only 5,600 ATMs in the country to provide cash. The Bakong app <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/bakong-tourists-app-launched-enabling-payments-at-3-3m-locations" rel="null" target="null" text="null">allows</a> users to make purchases with QR codes at 3.3 million locations.
<h2 id="the-increasing-convenience-of-using-bakong">The increasing convenience of using Bakong</h2>
In addition to purchases, Bakong Tourists allows users to send and receive money, deposit funds into their bank accounts, track transactions and convert funds between US dollars and Cambodian riels. 
Bakong Tourists users will have a spending limit of $500 a day, which can be raised to $3,000 after the user undergoes Know Your Customer verification, which requires a photo and copy of the user’s passport.
The app can be downloaded from the Google or Apple stores. Users register by email and add funds to their Bakong accounts through a partner, such as a bank, hotel or travel agent. NBC governor Chea Serey said NBC is looking to make an agreement with an international settlement company to link Bakong Tourists accounts with international payment cards.
Serey <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://kiripost.com/stories/bakong-app-launched-for-tourists" rel="null" target="null" text="null">said</a> agreements are expected to be made with Malaysia later in August and South Korea in September to allow users from those countries to link their domestic accounts with Bakong Tourists.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cambodia-undp-blockchain-digital-credentials-pilot" rel="null" target="null" text="null">United Nations, ICP launch digital credentials pilot in Cambodia</a>
<h3 id="soramitsu-s-expanding-regional-payments-vision">Soramitsu’s expanding regional payments vision</h3>
NBC launched Bakong in 2020 in conjunction with the Japanese blockchain Soramitsu. The Bakong system <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/laotian-cbdc-proof-of-concept-project-to-launch-using-system-pioneered-in-cambodia" rel="null" target="null" text="null">was used as the model</a> for the Lao DLak, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that was launched as a proof-of-concept in 2023.
Bakong was also <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japanese-soramitsu-uses-digital-currency-to-link-asian-countries" rel="null" target="null" text="null">envisioned as the base</a> for a regional payment system that would <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000027.000019078.html" rel="null" target="null" text="null">encompass</a> India, China, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands, as well as the countries where Bakong had already been established. Soramitsu has <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/solomon-islands-soramitsu-bokolo-cash-cbdc-proof-of-concept" rel="null" target="null" text="null">provided support for</a> the Solomon Islands’ Bokolo Cash CBDC proof-of-concept and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cbdctracker.org/currency/fiji-fiji_cbdc" rel="null" target="null" text="null">research</a> by the Reserve Bank of Fiji for the launch of a CBDC in that island nation.
<figure>
 <img alt="Cambodia’s Bakong Tourists app boosts regional payment options&nbsp;" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/Screenshot%202024-08-20%20at%2011.20.54%20AM">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Bakong Tourists download instructions. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://bakong.nbc.gov.kh/en/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null">National Bank of Cambodia</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
&nbsp;Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/bali-indonesia-crypto-digital-nomad-remote-work-cointelegraph-magazine/" rel="null" target="null" text="null">Become a Bali crypto digital nomad like me: Here’s how</a>

Cambodia’s Bakong Tourists app boosts regional payment options

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