Banking in Cambodia on a tourist visa
How do you go about banking in Cambodia without a work visa? The short answer is with some difficultly. But there are at least a few options, particularly if your banking in Cambodia is simple and include things like cashless payments or topping up your phone.
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Changing from a tourist visa to a work visa is the seamless way to make banking in Cambodia easier
Cambodia was extremely good to the estimated 71,000 people stuck here on tourist visas because of the covid pandemic, but for a year or so it was impossible to change over to a working visa. That has thankfully now changed. Our advice is to make the change to a work visa through a reputable agency.
You can read about changing your visa here. If you are one of the holdouts, read on for more options on banking in Cambodia on a tourist visa.
Opening a bank account on a tourist visa is not possible
The most popular retail bank in Cambodia is ABA but they will not open accounts for people on tourist visas. Neither will any other bank. It really is that simple. There are though a number of apps that work almost like a bank that are part of the Cambodian fintech revolution. They will not give you a card, as such, but their apps provide the closest and most convenient alternative to conventional commercial banking in Cambodia as they have many of the same functions that banks do.
To read about opening a bank account in Cambodia click here (link).
Banking in Cambodia on a tourist visa – Wing Specialized Bank
The first of these fintech options comes with the many Wing branches you see in Cambodia literally everywhere. You can change currency at a Wing outlet, transfer money, receive money at some via Western Union and well as transfer sums to bank accounts or even people’s phone numbers. There are a few other similar platforms, but Wing are the major players here. Their app is very simple to use and gives the option to transfer money to other Wing users, pay bank accounts, pay utility bills and it even offers a digital Visa card that can technically be used for online payments.
Wing is also the most widely accepted app when it comes to non-bank cashless payment. Many restaurants, bars and even some Tuk-Tuk’s take Wing Pay. It’s a very useful app, and combined with an ABA account means you can do pretty much everything online, without the need to ever handle cash.
Check out Wing here.
Other payment apps alternatives to banking in Cambodia?
After Wing, much like in the banking sector, there is no shortage of new players on the scene looking for their share of the financial transactions market. In reality there are too many payment apps and many are not accepted everywhere you might need. For that reason the best option by far is Wing. The second best would probably be TrueMoney.
TrueMoney Cambodia
While accepted in fewer places than Wing, TrueMoney has enough branches to warrant consideration. They provide essentially the same services as Wing, such as paying bills, scan to pay and the like. They do not offer a digital card. Many delivery companies have recently been offering deals for people that pay with TrueMoney, so they might be worth a punt if for other reson than saving money on food.
Check out TrueMoney here.
PiPay – Liv KB Cambodia – PayGo Wallet
These options are all pretty much clones of Wing/TrueMoney with negligible differences and as do not warrant their own entries onto the list. Various ones, such as PiPay, have special deals and promotions which make them useful at least for now. Whether you choose to use one, two or indeed all of these apps is down to you, but obviously research which ones have the best acceptance.
Banking in Cambodia on a tourist visa – Using a foreign bank card
The most obvious option for banking in Cambodia on a tourist visa and perhaps the only way for many is to access their foreign bank account and withdraw money via ATMs. This is simple but can be expensive due to service charges. Most ATM’s charge a minium fee of $5 per withdrawal, a rate which rises with the amount of cash you withdraw.
This can get prohibitively expensive if you do a lot of banking transactions, particularly if you do not have a USD account as exchange fees will be charged by your bank. Withdrawn money though can be added to your Wing account and used for cashless payments. This is a safe alternative to keeping large amounts of cash on you.
Other useful travel apps
There are also other travel apps that are useful from a banking perspective, quite simply because they will allow you to register and pay via your own foreign card. These include companies such as Grab and Food Panda, to name but 2.
And last, but not least we will give an honourable mention to a new app to hit the scene, Cambodia2U. This is the first full on travel guide to the country and offers everything from news to tourist, bar and restaurant listings. Although not yet card integrated, they do list what restaurants etc accept what. A project we are very much keeping a close eye on!
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Author: Adam Reeves
An avid traveler and telecommunications expert, Adam has explored over 25 countries, immersing himself in their cultures to discover the best they offer. His passion for connecting people extends from his professional life to his adventures abroad.
