Banks spreading their wings

Banks spreading their wings

Wing (Cambodia) Ltd Specialised Bank and Canadia Bank Plc inked a partnership to drive financial inclusion and provide every Cambodian easy access to cash.

Both banks are working together to fill in the Kingdom’s gap in financial services and to explore new opportunities to ensure that every Cambodian enjoys convenience and security when it comes to access to them, thereby improving their living standards.

Speaking at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday, Manu Rajan, chief executive officer of Wing, said that the MoU with Canadia Bank Plc, one of the oldest and largest banks in Cambodia, is to explore new opportunities to jointly drive financial inclusion and access to finance for every Cambodian.

He said that for almost 30 years, Canadia Bank is being at the forefront in driving
the phenomenal economic growth that Cambodia has witnessed. Manu said Canadia Bank has progressed well in its journey to be recognized as the best bank in Cambodia.

“We are undoubtedly exploring a potential partnership that will help improve
the quality of lives of Cambodian people by offering them better convenience in their day-by-day financial transactions,” he said.

He added that over the past 12 years Wing has introduced many innovations in the Cambodia market from the first credit card for the unbanked, to the first financial technology (fintech) mobile app and the first fintech to launch international remittances, issuing the first Mastercard for the unbanked and many more developments

As one of Cambodia’s leading mobile financial services providers, Wing has worked diligently for the past 12 years to provide every Cambodian with convenient access to relevant mobile financial services that are safe, secure, instant and are designed with an objective to improve the daily lives of Cambodians, said Manu.

Besides providing basic services such as money transfers, bill payments, phone top-ups, online and offline payments, Manu added Wing also offers outbound and inbound money transfer services, to and from more than 200 countries through its international money transfer partners. Cambodian Migrant workers across the world and specifically in countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, and Malaysia are benefiting because of this service.

“Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have played a significant role in Cambodia’s phenomenal economic growth over the past decades. It’s heartening to see that both Wing and Canadia have been big supporters of the SME sector in Cambodia within their own respective capacities as a commercial bank and a specialized bank in payments,” he added.

“With the trust of close to 10 million users every year, Wing has always supported the Cambodian economy by facilitating transactions worth close to 90 percent of the country’s GDP [gross domestic product] value in 2019 alone,” said Manu.

“Once this partnership gets the approval to go live from the authorities, all Canadia customers will be able to use close to 8,000 Wing Cash Express agents to withdraw money from their Canadia Accounts and use the Wing agents to make their Canadia loan re-payments,” he said.

Raymond Sia, chief executive officer of Canadia Bank, said that Canadia Bank believes in ensuring all Cambodians have equal and proper financial access. He said that financial access is important for any growing and developing country.

“The current pandemic situation has also changed consumer’s behavior with regards to financial access and increased the need for more contactless and cashless modes of payments,” Raymond said.

From a National Bank of Cambodia’s report, it is encouraging to see that there are 5.2 million active e-wallet accounts as of Dec 31, 2019, with volume transactions of $58 billion. This number continues to grow in tandem with the growth in new deposit accounts in Cambodia.

“In Canadia Bank, we always look at new ways of supporting and creating financial access and improving overall customer experience without compromising on our customers’ security and also ensuring the cost of transactions is kept affordable to all,” Raymond added.

“The partnership that we have with Wing provides another avenue to our customers to leverage technology for their financial needs which is secured, convenient and cashless,” he added. “For Canadia Bank’s customers, besides our 61 branches nationwide, our customers can now also have the option of about 8,000 Wing Express agents for their money transfers and to make loan repayments.” Khmer Times