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Cambodia’s technology startup ecosystem emerged in the early 2010s and has grown remarkable ever since. In 2013, the space counted less than 50 companies but grew to as many as 300 by 2018, according to a report by the Asian Development Bank.
Most Cambodia’s tech startups are involved in fintech, representing about 50 ventures in 2018. By 2021, that number had soared to more than 300 active fintech startups, Tomas Pokorny, founder of domestic digital payment company Pi Pay, told the Khmer Times in 2021.
The rise of the Cambodian fintech sector is emerging on the back of surging digital payment usage. Since COVID-19, cashless payments has risen in popularity to the detriment of cash transactions. A 2022 Visa study found that the usage of cash dropped 22% in 2022. Meanwhile, 68% of Cambodians who had both e-wallets and cards said they preferred the latter. Most notably, the study found that QR payment usage tripled in 2022 with 36% of the respondents polled indicating using the payment method.
With digital financial services on the rise in Cambodia, we’ve compiled a list of the country’s most notable and fastest-growing fintech companies which are worth following this year onwards.
Pi Pay
Launched in 2017, Pi Pay is a cashless payment platform that allows users to send and receive money, pay their bills, top-up their mobile phones, settle their monthly insurance premiums, shop at partner retailers, and more.
Users can add money to their digital wallet through various means including Pay&Go machines, bank transfers, or through cash-in at any AMK branches and agent nationwide.
The app also includes a range of social and lifestyle features including Chat, Maps and Friend Finder.
Pi Pay says it stands out from competitors for its partnerships with top financial institutions and fintech leaders including Alipay, WeChat Pay and South Korea’s KB Kookmin Bank. The company claims about 450,000 users, over US$950 million in transaction value and more than 4,500 merchant outlets part of its network across Cambodia.
Pi Pay, which is backed by Anco Brothers Group, a prominent local business conglomerate with extensive holdings in property, infrastructure, hospitality, power and trading businesses, merged with rival Smartluy in 2020.
TrueMoney
TrueMoney is a leading international fintech brand and part of Ascend Money, a digital financial services venture of The Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) and Ant Group headquartered in Thailand.
In Cambodia, where the company established operations in 2016, TrueMoney provides a mobile app that allows users to transfer money, top-up their mobile phone credit, pay their bills, and more.
In 2021, TrueMoney Cambodia reported a 109% increase in the number of new customers accounts. Total transactions grew by almost one million in 2021 while customer transactions increased approximately by 40%, the company said.
TrueMoney is one of the largest and fastest-growing financial platforms in Southeast Asia, having grown from just one market to six markets in a span of two years. Today, the firm has significant operations in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It claims to have the one of the largest regional agent network in Southeast Asia with 65,000 agents. In 2019, it processed US$8 billion worth of payments.
Bima
Bima Cambodia is a subsidiary of Milvik, a Swedish company and one of the world’s leading providers of mobile-delivered health and insurance services in emerging markets.
Bima Cambodia, which launched in the country in 2014, offers insurance products to families in the nation, offering a range of products including Bima Life and Bima Personal Accident. Both insurance products start from just US$1 per month, and are available as a month by month subscription through local Bima agents or a mobile money wallet.
Since its launch, Bima Cambodia says it has helped 500,000 people in Cambodia access vital services and paid over US$1.2 million in claims.
Founded in 2010, Milvik aims to democratize healthcare in emerging markets through mobile-delivered health and insurance services. The company operates across the Asia and Africa region, providing people with affordable access to high-quality healthcare.
AMK Microfinance Institution
AMK Microfinance Institution (AMK MFI) is one of the leading microfinance institutions in Cambodia, providing a one-stop-shop for financial solutions including digital banking, agent banking, leasing and more.
The company offers a wide variety of products and services including loans, deposits, money transfers, bills payments, microinsurance, payroll, as well as a mobile banking app that allows users to manage their finance, pay their utilities and other bills, top-up their mobile phones and transfer money between bank accounts using Bakong, Cambodia’s real-time digital payment system. It also provides AMK Pay, a QR code payment platform for merchants.
AMK MFI has one of the largest networks in the country with more than 150 operating branches and about 7,000 agents nationwide. The company claimed one million customers in 2021.
Morakot
Founded in 2014, Morakot is a software company focusing on financial systems. The company specializes in cloud-based core banking platforms and other solutions for microfinance institutions and banks.
The Morakot VB core banking software is suitable for microfinance institutions, cooperatives, leasing companies as well as small and medium banks.
Morakot claims almost 50 clients, 260,000 end-customers and US$270 million in total loan disbursement. The company operates in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Singapore, with plans to further across the region. The company’s customers include banks, microfinance institutions, leasing companies, and pawnshops.
BanhJi
Founded in 2016, BanhJi is an award-winning fintech startup providing a digital platform for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to manage their finances.
The platform helps businesses keep track of customer deposits, balances and receipts, supporting sale management, and other critical revenue management and helping ease financial decision-making, performance, and compliance.
BanhJi claimed more than 4,000 customers in December 2020 and said it had established strategic partnerships with various local financial institutions and payment providers, some of which had leveraged customer data on BanhJi for unsecured loan origination.
Bongloy
Founded in 2018, Bongloy is a fintech company that provides an open API for card issuance and digital payments. Bongloy’s secure, flexible and scalable open API platform enables businesses to acquire and issue cards. It also connects with local and international payment providers to allow customers to accept payment from Cambodia and abroad.
The platform provides traditional financial institutions and companies with a cost-effective, fast, and easy way to support electronic payments, enabling businesses to offer cards as well as make and receive payments online seamlessly.
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