The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has launched Cambodian Shared Switch (CSS) for convenient cross-institutional payments and integration with regional countries.

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At the official launch on Tuesday at NBC, its Deputy Governor Chea Serey said that the CSS system will provide a more convenient method for customers of banking and financial institutions to make cross-institutional payment transactions using CSS debit cards at all ATMs and point of sale (POS) terminals.

She added that the CSS system will also serve as a Local Switch for Cambodia and will help to integrate the country with regional nations.

"The development of the CSS system is another new initiative of NBC to facilitate card payments in Cambodia. The system allows customers to make CSS debit card transactions at ATMs, such as withdrawals, balance checks, printing out summary reports, using quick payment services, and changing passwords,” Serey said.

“At the same time, customers can also make CSS debit card transactions on POS machines, such as purchases, balance checks, cash withdrawals, fund transfers, and purchase reversals."

She highlighted the cost-efficiency of CSS, pointing out that 10 ATMs at one location are not efficient. She said, "It is costly for individual institutions to maintain their ATMs and manage the cash in their ATM machines. This is the kind of picture that I hope we will not see in the future."

She explained that instead of having 10 ATMs at one location, the ATMs could be spread across the country. Instead of each institution having its own ATMs, they could use each other's ATMs through CSS. This would allow the remaining nine ATMs to be placed elsewhere, which would be a more efficient way to deploy ATMs and POS machines.

Ivana Tranchini, Country manager of Visa in Cambodia, said this marks a significant milestone in Cambodia's digital payments evolution, with CSS the first crucial step in this journey. Visa offers Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) chip standards to the Association of Banks of Cambodia (ABC) as the national chip specifications.

She added that to accelerate this migration of magnetic stripes to secure, contact EMV, chip technology, Visa is grateful for the opportunity to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for all co-badging of CSS cards with Visa technology.

“So payments can be processed through Visa’s advanced global processing network VisaNet. The option provides Cambodian consumers access to the sophistication of the CSS and Visa system,” she said.

“The CSS initiative ignited what we all witnessed as the next evolution of the payment ecosystem led by the vision of the NBC within the Bakong system. This is an essential and crucial money movement and supports Cambodia’s economy into the future.”

She highlighted that the payment industry continues to push the boundaries of innovation in the kingdom.

According to a recent Visa study, cash remains the most popular payment method in Cambodia. However, the study also found there is a growing interest in digital payments and that many Cambodians believe that a cashless economy is possible. Visa is committed to supporting NBC and the banking sector in their efforts to digitize payments and reach a cashless economy. She added.

Sok Voeun, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), said that the CSS offers the benefit of ease of use for interbank transactions. In addition, customers can operate thousands of ATMs of CSS member banks nationwide.

Voeun also requested NBC and member institutions have a common system operation to set the maximum amount per day and the amount of cash per transaction from each ATM of the member institutions to be safe and easy to operate.

“The CSS users can withdraw cash, make interbank transfers, and check account balances through ATMs, which allows rural people to access a wide range of banking services.” Voeun said.

Char Sopheap, Chairman of the Payment Committee of ABC, said that the launch of the CSS in response to the Financial Sector Development Strategy 2016-2025 will contribute to the promotion of digital payments, reduce the use of cash, increase transparency in the banking and financial sector, and help promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

“The CSS system also contributes to preventing the occurrence of events such as receiving counterfeit cash, torn banknotes, and many other problems,” he added. “The CSS system will also help users save time, be confident, and be secure.”

The bank institute and microfinance in CSS members in Cambodia have 56 institutes, including 48 members are commercial banks, five are deposit-institution and non-members are three commercial banks.

According to NBC’s 2022 Annual Report, the banking system in Cambodia consists of 58 commercial banks, nine specialized banks, five deposit-taking microfinance institutions, and 82 non-deposit-taking microfinance institutions, with a total of 2,702 headquarters and breaches. The number of ATMs increased to 4,524 in 2022, and the number of POS machines increased to 30,031.

Serey said the introduction of new payment services and tools, such as mobile banking, contactless payment cards, and virtual payment cards, has led to a significant increase in digital payment transactions.

The growing popularity of mobile payments and QR codes in the market is a positive sign of the digital economy revolution in Cambodia and around the world.