Visa’s EMV® Chip Standards Adopted by Association of Banks in Cambodia to Secure Domestic Transactions
08/07/2019
Visa reinforces its commitment to the development of digital payments in Cambodia
The Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC), has signed agreements with Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, and ACLEDA Bank Plc., to help the nation’s interbank network Cambodian Shared Switch (CSS) accelerate the migration of magnetic stripe payment cards to secure EMV chip1 technology.
The agreements provide members of the Association of Banks in Cambodia with access to Visa’s EMV chip standards and the Application Identifier (AID) from ACLEDA Bank, for domestic chip-enabled cards, ATMs and point-of-sale terminals to ensure they meet the internationally recognized chip-standards.
Dr In Channy, Chairman of the Association of Banks in Cambodia, said: “Upon completion of the migration, local banks and businesses will be highly protected against counterfeit fraud, and less likely to be a target for skimming and data breach incidents. By adopting Visa’s EMV chip standards we will be able to strengthen domestic transactions and our network of ATMs, providing greater security to the delivery of financial services across the country.”
Monika Chum, Visa Country Manager for Cambodia, said: “Trust underpins all transactions. As digital payments grow in the country we are committed to ensuring Cambodians are protected whenever and wherever they transact. Making Visa’s EMV chip standards available to local banks and Microfinance Deposit Taking Institutes will benefit the entire industry, as we work together to maintain the highest security standards available.”
EMV cards contain an embedded microprocessor which creates a new transaction code every time the card is used. This advanced anti-counterfeit fraud solution provides strong security features previously not possible with traditional magnetic stripe cards.
Mr. Kimty Kormoly, Deputy Director General of Central Bank, National Bank of Cambodia, said: “The collaboration between The Association of Banks in Cambodia and Visa today is another step forward for enhancing payment interoperability and security which is very important in promoting efficiency and safety in Cambodia’s payment system.”
Cambodia continues to experience robust growth in digital payments and there is growing appetite among consumers to adopt new payment methods. According to Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes study a third of Cambodians expect digital payments to grow in popularity due to their convenience and security compared to cash, while 54 percent of Cambodians believe the economy can go fully cashless within the next seven years2.
In addition to assisting local banks with the implementation of the EMV chip standards, Visa constantly develops strategies designed to approach risk management and innovation holistically. This involves fraud prevention measures, consumer protection, threat and fraud detection and response, and partnerships that allow Visa to build on the security introduced by technical innovations such as the EMV chip.
Visa, together with its financial institution and merchant partners, has consistently invested in growing digital payments in Cambodia. This has included growing card issuance and acceptance, educating consumers and merchants on the benefits of electronic payments, and introducing new payment innovations such as QR payments.
The EMV chip standard, a global industry standard for a secure payment transaction, is developed by EMVCo – which is collectively owned by American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, UnionPay and Visa.
1 EMV® is a registered trademark or trademark of EMVCo LLC in the United States and other countries.
2 The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2018 was conducted by Intuit Research on behalf of Visa in August 2018. The research was conducted amongst 4,000 consumers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
About ABC
The Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC) was formed in 1994 and recognized by the Royal Government of Cambodia as the official entity to represent Cambodia’s private banking sector. In 1997, ABC was officially recognized by the Council of Ministers. ABC becomes the 8th member banks of the ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA) in 1999. ABC is operated under the frame of the Law on Banking and Financing Institution, 1999 and its Articles that was approved on 28 August 2001 and registered at the National Bank of Cambodia on 2 October 2001. Finally, on 23 November 2012, ABC had officially registered with the Ministry of Interior.
The Association aims to support the development of a Cambodian banking sector that is strong. ABC has played active and vital roles in promoting the constructive dialogues and cooperation with its members, the National Bank of Cambodia, and other stakeholders at national and regional levels to strengthen the capacity and address the challenges, which have been occurring at national and regional levels to uphold financial healthy and enough professionalism of banks and financial institutions that supports the rapid growth of the economy in a balanced and sustainable manner, and that are in line with the ASEAN’s economic integration.
Currently, ABC has 65 members including 45 Commercial Banks, 15 Specialized Banks, 01 Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA) and 04 Representative Office of the Banks who are located in Cambodia.
About Visa
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 usa.visa.com/about visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.
About ACLEDA Bank Plc.
Today ACLEDA Bank Plc. is offering the E-Banking, Credit, Deposits, Local and International Funds Transfers, Trade Finance, Cash Management, Money Exchange, and a lot of other banking services; furthermore, the Bank has ACLEDA Unity ToanChet is a FinTech Application running on Smart Phone, enabling customers to do banking transactions from anywhere, anytime. Almost all kinds of smart phones running iOS or Android can be connected with ACLEDA Unity ToanChet service. For who receive transferred money via this service can use any kinds of mobile phone.
ACLEDA Bank Plc. has 4 subsidiaries known as ACLEDA Securities Plc., ACLEDA Institute of Business, ACLEDA Bank Lao Ltd., and ACLEDA MFI Myanmar Co., Ltd. with representative offices in Myanmar. As of Jun 2019, ACLEDA Bank Plc. had US$6.08 billion in total assets, US$3.70 billion in total credit balance and US$4.15 billion in total saving deposits. For more information, please visit: www.acledabank.com.kh