Cambodia experiencing strong electronic payments growth with Visa card ownership up 65 percent
06/21/2018
Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, has announced that it experienced strong growth in Cambodia in 2017, with the number of Visa cards in the country increasing by 65 percent compared to the year prior1.
Visa also saw both the total payment volume and total number of transactions on its network grow by 30 percent respectively, while the company increased the number of locations where its cards are accepted by 20 percent2.
Monika Chum, Visa Country Manager for Cambodia, said: “There are plenty of reasons for optimism in the Cambodian economy. Broadly, we saw national GDP expand by 7 percent last year3, while at the same time, figures from our network point to clear growth in economic activity. As the Cambodian economy continues to evolve and integrate with the global economy, we expect to see continued growth in electronic payments as more consumers and businesses look for the benefits of speed, convenience and security over cash.”
The last 12 months have seen Visa undertaking a range of initiatives to help expand the use of electronic payments in Cambodia, including working with the Angkor Enterprise to launch Visa acceptance at Angkor Wat.
“In 2016, Cambodia saw over 5 million tourist arrivals—nearly double the number of arrivals of five years earlier4,” said Chum. “As such, we see it as vitally important that we take a proactive role in helping to strengthen Cambodia’s payment infrastructure, so that people from around the world are able to pay efficiently and securely at Angkor Wat, as well as at Cambodia’s many other significant tourist sites.”
As a part of its plan to accelerate the digital payment roadmap for Cambodia, Visa is targeting to roll out more innovative products, namely QR payments and contactless payments within this year to better serve consumers. With QR Code payments, customers simply use their smartphone to scan a merchant’s QR code, and funds are sent from the customer’s bank account to the seller, while with contactless payments a customer can simply touch their card to a point-of-sale terminal to make a transaction.
“Looking forward, we’re going to be focusing heavily on trying to expand where and how Cambodians can use electronic payments, whether it’s for big ticket items such as new furniture or vehicles, or for everyday spend items such as fuel or groceries,” Chum added. “Our goal really is to make paying simpler, safer and more convenient for consumers here, so that they can better enjoy the benefits of this growing economy.”
1VisaNet data from January to December 2017
2VisaNet data from January to December 2017
3https://www.adb.org/countries/cambodia/economy
4http://www.tourismcambodia.org/images/mot/statistic_reports/tourism_statistics_year_new_2016.pdf
About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog.html and @VisaNews.