Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is set to be accepted in Cambodia through the country’s national and interoperable quick response (QR) code, KHQR, marking the first phase of a cross-border QR payment linkage between India and the Southeast Asian country.
Indians can scan mobile payments app Bakong’s KHQR at more than 4.5 million merchant outlets to make payments across tourist attractions, restaurants, retail outlets and other places using their UPI apps.
Cambodian visitors to India will be able to pay at millions of UPI-QR-enabled merchant locations in the country using their Cambodian payments and banking apps in the subsequent phase of the bilateral launch of payment services between the two countries.
The launch is being facilitated by NPCI International in India in partnership with ACLEDA Bank Plc. in Cambodia.
“This collaboration not only strengthens real-time payment connectivity between our two ecosystems but also lays the groundwork for deeper tourism and commercial engagement,” said Ritesh Shukla, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), NPCI International (NIPL).
NIPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and is tasked with the internationalisation of UPI and the RuPay card network.
“ACLEDA Bank Plc. is proud to launch Phase 1 of our cross-border interoperability initiative, enabling Indian travellers to execute secure digital transactions via UPI-enabled applications across our extensive KHQR merchant network,” said Dr In Channy, president and group managing director, ACLEDA Bank.
NIPL is also exploring high-traffic geographies such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand for bilateral linkages with UPI, NPCI chief Dilip Asbe had stated earlier.
UPI is already accepted as a payment method in Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Apart from the South Asian countries, the organisation is also planning to operationalise UPI in Japan, Maldives and Greece, among other nations.
Internationally, the transaction volume of UPI crossed the one million mark for the first time in FY26. Volumes nearly doubled to 1.48 million in FY26 (as of December 2025) from 0.75 million in FY25, data showed.
In terms of value, it recorded ₹330.43 crore in FY26 compared to ₹258.53 crore in FY25. In comparison, FY24 had recorded just 37,060 transactions with a value of ₹19.7 crore.
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