Cambodia promotes cashless payments to fight COVID-19

A roadside stall sells masks and sanitizers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Phnom Penh (VNA) - The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has urged customers and retailers to use e-wallets and apps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"Using digital banking could help reduce the number of COVID-19 transmissions by lessening the need for person-to-person transactions," the NBC said in a press statement as quoted by the Xinhua News Agency.

NBC is also encouraging the country's major banks and institutions to provide incentives to consumers and businesses who choose cashless transactions over those involving banknotes.

Last year, the NBC launched Cambodia's only integrated payment system, Bakong, that allows customers to do everything-e-wallets, mobile payments, online banking and financial applications-all in one place. More than 59 percent of Cambodians now conduct their payment transactions online.

The Southeast Asian nation has been enduring the third wave of COVID-19 community transmissions since Feb. 20. The country reported a daily record of 556 COVID-19 cases on May 24, bringing the national case tally to 25,761, with 179 deaths and 18,359 recoveries./.

VNA