The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the launch of payment system connectivity between India and Cambodia, enabling QR-code based cross-border merchant payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Launched on June 2, 2026, in Phnom Penh, the initiative represents the first phase of collaboration between the National Payments Corporation of India’s international arm, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), and Acleda Bank Plc., under the guidance of the RBI and the National Bank of Cambodia. Under this arrangement, Indian travellers can make real-time payments at over 4.5 million merchants in Cambodia that are enabled with KHQR, Cambodia’s national QR standard, using their UPI applications. The initiative aims to provide secure, transparent, efficient, and cashless payment options while reducing dependence on cash and card-based transactions. RBI stated that the second phase of the project will subsequently enable Cambodian travellers to make UPI QR-based merchant payments in India.
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
Press Releases
Date : Jun 03, 2026
Launch of Payment Systems’ Connectivity Between India and Cambodia for QR-Code Based Cross-Border Merchant Payments
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been actively pursuing interlinking of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with fast payment systems of other jurisdictions to promote cross-border payments. These initiatives are aligned with the G20 Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments, with a focus on cheaper, efficient, more transparent, and more accessible payments.
2. As part of this initiative, the connectivity of payment systems between India and Cambodia for acceptance of UPI at QR-Code enabled merchants in Cambodia has been launched on June 02, 2026 at Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This marks the go-live of the first phase of collaboration between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and Acleda Bank Plc., under the aegis of RBI and National Bank of Cambodia, to enable interoperability of QR-code based Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions between the two countries.
3. With this connectivity, Indian travellers visiting Cambodia can now make QR code-based payments to over 4.5 million merchants enabled with KHQR (national QR standard of Cambodia) using their UPI applications. This will enable real time physical merchant payments in Cambodia by Indian travellers in a transparent and secure manner. This will reduce dependency on cash and also act as an alternative to payments using cards.
4. The facility to enable Cambodian travellers to make UPI QR-enabled merchant payments in India shall be undertaken subsequently in the second phase.
(Brij Raj)
Chief General Manager
Press Release: 2026-2027/379
