The Bank of the Lao PDR published an update on its annual bilateral meeting with the National Bank of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, which included a joint launch of the Lao-Cambodia cross-border retail payment arrangement branded LAO QR Scan KHQR. The meeting was co-chaired by National Bank of Cambodia Governor Chea Serey and Bank of the Lao PDR Governor Bounkham Vorachit and covered macroeconomic and monetary policy implementation, 2025 foreign exchange management and the 2026 plan, banking sector development, cross-border payments, and technical cooperation and future collaboration. The QR payment rollout follows an earlier phase launched in August 2023 that enabled Cambodian users to scan and pay at merchants in Lao PDR, while the newly launched phase enables Lao users to pay at Cambodian merchants displaying KHQR by using mobile banking applications from five Lao commercial banks, BCEL, ACLEDA, APB, Sacom bank and MB, across KHQR acceptance linked to 62 banks in Cambodia. The programme also included a signing and exchange ceremony for a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Lao PDR and Cambodian credit information companies.
Bank of the Lao 2025-12-19
Bank of the Lao PDR and National Bank of Cambodia launch LAO QR Scan KHQR for cross-border retail payments
The Bank of the Lao PDR and the National Bank of Cambodia launched the Lao-Cambodia cross-border retail payment arrangement, LAO QR Scan KHQR, during their annual bilateral meeting. This phase allows Lao users to pay at Cambodian merchants using mobile banking apps from five Lao banks. The meeting also addressed macroeconomic policy, foreign exchange management, banking sector development, and included a memorandum of understanding between the countries' credit information firms.