Cambodia in throes of digitalisation, says techie
Even as the world shifts into digitalisation in high gear, the pros and cons of technology are becoming increasingly apparent. The Asia-Pacific region including Cambodia is witnessing widespread digitization leading to the evolving needs of customers. Customers are increasingly preferring digital modes of payment.
Rajesh Saxena, CEO of iGCB, Intellect Design Arena, technology partner of Chief Bank told exclusively to Khmer Times about the intricacies of technical trends prevalent in the banking industry today.
“According to the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), e-wallet accounts skyrocketed from 13.6 million in the previous year to an impressive 19.5 million by the end of 2022. Customers are looking for payment models with the least friction and best customer experience with one or two clicks and that ensures real-time settlement,” Saxena said.
In October 2020, NBC launched its historic Bakong digital payment solution which had already crossed 10 million accounts by the end of last year. Using the open-source Hyperledger Iroha blockchain framework, it was created by NBC in collaboration with Japanese player Soramitsu. The NBC also collaborated with China’s UnionPay International to expand the reach of Bakong internationally. Earlier NBC had also tied up with Alipay the digital payment service of Ant Group. In July 2022, NBC launched KHQR the universal quick response (QR) platform and in a year, it had already amassed close to 400,000 transactions.
Digital lending, he explained, is another area which is in significant demand. Today it is possible to offer a loan to a retail or an SME in minutes due to digital onboarding and real-time credit decisions with very quick time to approve and time to cash metrics.
“A uniform omnichannel experience with digital onboarding across products is essential for banks to cater to the evolving needs of customers wherein banks can develop new products by themselves,” he added.
The primary role of banks is to accept deposits and grant loans, emphasised Saxena. This role will remain constant. Technology is an enabler for banks to carry out their functions. The reliance on technology by banks continues to increase by the day. This will increase as banks are realizing the immediate benefits of technological transformation in a reduction in operations cost, acquisition cost, increase in scalability, improvement in customer experience, NPS scores and more.
“Our association with bankers in the country is a clear testament to acceptance and the growing opportunity in Cambodia. With our global expertise, we have been able to establish leadership positioning in the most advanced markets like Europe and the Middle East. We have a significant presence in Asian markets with some of the largest banks being our customers,” said Saxena.
Digitization and proliferation of digital channels have transformed the banking industry and continue to evolve to improve customer experience and operational efficiency. While counting the benefits, it is important to acknowledge that application data security and privacy are the cornerstone of any digital transformation exercise. The industry as a whole understands the importance of the same.
“Chief (Cambodia) Commercial Bank Plc, a leading bank, has been our client for the last 10 years. A decade-long relationship speaks a lot about the comfort and trust they have with us. To point out, when banks in Cambodia partner with us, they get the most comprehensive banking stack across central, retail, SME and corporate banks. Having a comprehensive product and technology stack helps banks create a uniform transformation strategy,” said Saxena.
Security assessment and management process includes analysing security and data privacy regulatory considerations. It also requires threat modelling and data flow design considerations and by way of that, building security by design into the applications. All pre-go live assessments like vulnerability scans, open-source security scans and external penetration testing are performed to ensure successful implementation.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501417540/cambodia-in-throes-of-digitalisation-says-techie/
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