ACLEDA Bank and BPC, a global leader in payment solutions, are celebrating a decade-long proven partnership that has powered ACLEDA’s rise as a cornerstone of the country’s financial sector in delivering reliable, future-oriented banking services to businesses of all sizes and individual customers alike.

The National Bank of Cambodia has played a pivotal role in modernising the country's financial landscape and driving digitalisation. The initiatives have significantly advanced efficiency, inclusivity and security in Cambodia's payment systems. The rise of digital payments has led to a yearly transaction surge, a trend recognised by ACLEDA Bank. To seize the growing opportunities in digital and virtual services, ACLEDA Bank relied on SmartVista technology to ramp-up own competitive position and support compliance with local regulations and requirements. BPC’s SmartVista platform was chosen for its flexible microservices-based architecture and deep expertise in the Cambodian and wider APAC markets.

BPC embarked on a digital transformation project with ACLEDA, migrating its legacy infrastructure to the next-generation SmartVista platform through a phased approach that ensured high availability and adaptability in line with new NBC regulations and evolving market demands. Over the years, the bank greatly enhanced its ability to deliver digital innovations. BPC boosted its issuing and acquiring capabilities with SmartVista through modern card management and switching solutions, allowing ACLEDA to offer debit, credit and innovative virtual cards of international and local schemes quickly. Significantly, the certified SmartVista platform, accredited by VISA, Mastercard, JCB, Diners, and the NBC CSS network, has enabled ACLEDA to issue and acquire an extensive range of international and domestic cards. Consequently, the bank’s cardholder base grew from 1.4 million debit cards in 2021 to over two million by the end of 2024—a substantial increase of more than 40% in just three years.

Leveraging SmartVista’s integration and multi-institutional capabilities, ACLEDA began hosting Krung Thai Bank, Kasikorn, Saigon-Hanoi Bank and Military Bank Cambodia as indirect members of Cambodia Shared Switch (CSS), allowing them to issue local NBC debit cards with secure, in-house PIN generation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2019, ACLEDA Bank swiftly launched a new channel for virtual teller machines, leveraging modern SmartVista functionality to enable full know-your-customer (KYC) onboarding, instant account creation and even immediate card issuance—all without direct staff intervention. Concurrently, BPC’s customer service portal opened up digital self-service channels for tasks like PIN changes, funds transfers and utility payments. As a result, daily transaction volumes at ATM & CRM usage surged from 35 million transactions in 2021 to 45 million in 2024, and virtual card transactions increased almost six-fold, demonstrating the strong adoption of innovations.

In addition to innovations in ATM Management self-service channels, ACLEDA utilised the BPC technological platform to upgrade merchant point of sale (POS) acceptance functionality. This resulted in a surge of QR payment-accepting merchants under ACLEDA's network, from 230,000 in 2022 to over 420,000 in 2024, and the corresponding number of transactions skyrocketed from 16 million to 160 million per year. Introduced Fraud Management powered by artificial intelligence/ machine learning (AI/ML)-driven detection and prevention, culminating in the bank earning a PCI DSS Certificate of Compliance in 2024.

Mach Terry, senior executive vice president and group chief information officer, ACLEDA Bank Plc. said, “Ten years ago, we sought a technology that could ensure high availability, address local market nuances and enable us to innovate quickly. Partnering with BPC and implementing SmartVista delivered all of these and more. Over the years, we’ve expanded our card offerings, introduced virtual teller machines, and scaled our ATM and POS networks. Our relationship with BPC is rooted in trust, and we look forward to continuing this journey of modernising Cambodia’s financial sector together.”

Somboon Mongkolsombat, country manager at BPC added, "We are proud to have played a key role in ACLEDA’s remarkable growth over the past decade. Our commitment is to provide only capable, proven and modern solutions so our clients can deliver the best offerings and digital payment experiences to their customers. Seeing ACLEDA extend its card portfolio, embrace new channels, and achieve significant spikes in transaction volumes is a testament to both the bank’s ambition and SmartVista's robust scalability. We look forward to supporting ACLEDA’s future expansion and contributing further to the digital evolution of banking in Cambodia."

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker