The National Bank of Cambodia, the country's central bank, has just announced it plans to launch a digital payments system already this quarter.
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Chea Serey, director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, has said the payment system, which will have its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), will go live this quarter.
The new digital currency of the National Bank of Cambodia, whose test version was launched in July last year, will be known as Bakong.
Bakong will bring together all the country's payment industry players on the same platform, which will facilitate the payment process among users. In addition, the system is also expected to allow cross-border payments in the future.
Unlike most blockchain cryptos, Bakong will operate in a closed system supported by the Cambodian banking authorities.
Users will reportedly have a software wallet that will be linked to their bank accounts. The system will allow them to make real-time transactions while the country's Central Bank stores a record of the transactions.
The first news suggesting the country was exploring the possibility of issuing its own national digital currency were known in March 2018.