A Malaysian universal bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Bank of Cambodia to promote collaboration in the area of cross border payment and remittance between Cambodia and Malaysia.
Through the MOU the Malaysian and Cambodia branches of the banks and the National Bank of Cambodia will work together to explore the possibility of enabling real-time transfers, payments, and cross border remittance of funds between Cambodia and Malaysia through the National Bank of Cambodia’s Bakong payment system and Maybank’s Maybank2u digital platform.
The Bakong system is a payment system using blockchain-based technology, established by the National Bank of Cambodia for real-time transfer, payment, and settlement across different banking and financial institutions in Cambodia.
The Assistant Governor and Director General, Central Banking of the National Bank of Cambodia said that the introduction of the Bakong system will provide more possibilities in enhancing the payment system at both the domestic and regional levels.
In addition, the signed MOU will enable both institutions to reach another level of financial cooperation in further leveraging the technology to benefit the people in Cambodia and Malaysia.
The collaboration will substantially contribute to the promotion of trade activities and financial inclusion in both countries.
The Head of Community Financial Services of the Malaysian bank stated that the bank is honoured to be the National Bank of Cambodia’s global partner for Bakong’s cross border payment and remittance.
Leveraging its ASEAN connectivity and the bank’s digital platform, the aim is to provide customers in Malaysia and Cambodia with a convenient yet cost-effective solution for inter-country funds transfer.
This collaboration will bring Maybank a step closer to achieving its aspiration to be the ‘Digital Bank of Choice’ in the region.
In 2018, more than 66% of all mobile banking transactions in Malaysia were done through the bank’s App, while more than 52% of all internet banking transactions went through its main website; this collaboration will further expand and enhance the bank’s capabilities.
The CEO of the Cambodian branch of the bank stated that the aspiration is to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers by continually transforming ourselves through digital innovations to serve in a fast, hassle-free and secure manner.
With this collaboration, the Bank strives to enhance its offerings by providing relevant end-to-end solutions to a wider customer base via differentiated digital proposition whilst contributing to the growth of the financial services industry.
Upon launching, this service is expected to benefit Cambodians who are residing in Malaysia and Malaysians who live in Cambodia as well as businesses in both countries through the Bakong e-wallet and Maybank2u in terms of cross border fund transfer for trade settlement and remittance.
Malaysia is seeing a renaissance of cross-border remittance
According to another report, Malaysia’s cross-border payments industry is going through a renaissance, according to experts.
Customers who traditionally relied on banks have now started switching to fintech players for sending money to their relatives abroad.
It was noted that the remittance industry in Malaysia is of late going through somewhat of a renaissance, as we are starting to see a lot of innovative solutions spring to life in this sector.
This is due to a combination of pragmatic and forward-thinking regulations and the introduction of many fintech players such as ourselves, the CEO of a leading remittance platform stated.
This is a great time to be a consumer and we see growth happening as more corporate and retail customers choose fintech players over traditional banks.
