National Bank of Cambodia and Maybank launch cross border funds transfer
Cross-border payments can be prohibitively expensive for small businesses in emerging market countries. The intervention of central banks is starting to level the playing field.
This week, The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) – the nation’s central bank – and Malaysia’s Maybank have jointly launched Maybank-Bakong Cross Border Funds Transfer. This is a real-time funds transfer service between Malaysia and Cambodia through NBC’s Bakong e-wallet and Maybank’s MAE app.
Back in July, the Central Bank of France and the Monetary Authority of Singapore experimented on cross-border payments while several other Asian central banks collaborated for cross border payments.
In the latest initiative, Maybank customers in Malaysia will be able to transfer funds directly in Cambodia via the MAE mobile application using the mobile phone numbers of the recipients registered with Bakong e-wallet.
As per the press note, under the first phase, customers will be able to transfer funds from Malaysia to Cambodia, while transfers from Cambodia to Malaysia will be rolled out at a later date.
The governor of NBC, H.E. CHEA Chanto, noted that this remittance service would enable ‘both countries to reach another level of financial cooperation in further leveraging technology to benefit the people in both countries’.
Under this, applicants can send up to $2500 daily via their mobile devices and it only charges minimal fees.