What is KHQR? Cambodia’s universal QR code explained

KHQR is Cambodia’s national QR code standard for payments. It was developed by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and launched officially on 4 July 2022. One KHQR code can be paid by the app of any bank, microfinance institution or payment provider that is a member of Bakong, the NBC’s national payment system.

In everyday terms: a shop shows one QR code, and a customer can pay it with ABA, ACLEDA, Wing or any other connected app, in riel or US dollars.

The problem KHQR solves

Before a common standard, a QR code was tied to the bank or wallet that issued it. A merchant who wanted to accept customers of several institutions needed several codes and an agreement with each acquirer.

The NBC’s own early description of KHQR states the goal directly: a single QR code for receiving payment from any mobile banking app. It also notes that merchants can then accept payments from any bank’s app without bilateral contracts with multiple acquirers, which makes QR payments practical for small merchants.

How a KHQR payment works

1. The merchant shows a KHQR code, either a printed stand or a code generated on screen.
2. The customer scans it with their own banking or wallet app, or with the NBC’s Bakong app.
3. The customer confirms the amount. For a printed code, the customer usually types the amount; for an on-screen code, it is often already filled in.
4. Bakong routes the payment from the customer’s institution to the merchant’s institution.
5. The merchant’s institution credits the account and sends a notification.

The two institutions do not need a direct link with each other. Each connects to Bakong, and Bakong acts as the switch between them.

Static and dynamic codes

KHQR has two forms, defined in the code itself:

• Static KHQR: a fixed code, typically printed on a stand at the counter. The same code is used for every customer, and the payer enters the amount.
• Dynamic KHQR: a code generated for a single payment, usually with the amount included. In the NBC’s current developer documentation, a dynamic KHQR must carry an expiry time, and an app should reject the code once it has expired.

Individual and merchant KHQR

The NBC’s developer guide distinguishes two types:

• Individual KHQR is linked to a person’s Bakong account. It suits sole traders, market sellers and person-to-person payments.
• Merchant KHQR carries a merchant ID and the name of the acquiring bank. It is used by businesses that receive payments through a bank or payment provider.

For the person paying, both look and work the same way.

What is inside a KHQR code

A KHQR code is a string of short, labelled data fields, packed into the QR image. According to the NBC’s KHQR SDK documentation, the main ones are:

This is why the merchant name shown in your app before you confirm comes from the code itself. Checking that name against the shop you are paying is a simple safeguard.

How many merchants accept KHQR

The NBC’s Annual Report 2024 reports that merchants registered to use KHQR reached 4.5 million. The NBC used the same figure, about 4.5 million merchants, when it launched the Bakong Tourists app in January 2025 and the India link in June 2026.

Note that this counts registered merchants, not merchants actively taking payments. Treat it as a measure of reach rather than of daily use.

KHQR across borders

KHQR is also the code foreign visitors scan in Cambodia when Cambodia’s QR system is linked with their home country’s. The NBC describes several such links in exactly those terms, for example:

• South Korea, Phase 1: customers of Jeonbuk Bank’s mobile apps scan KHQR at merchants in Cambodia.
• Laos, Phase 2: Lao users scan KHQR codes.
• Singapore, Phase 2 (30 March 2026): Singapore users scan KHQR.
• India, Phase 1 (2 June 2026): Indian visitors scan KHQR with their mobile banking apps.
• China, Weixin Pay Phase 1 (18 August 2026): Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay) users scan KHQR.

The reverse direction, where Cambodians scan the partner country’s QR code abroad, is a separate phase in most corridors and often launched on a different date. Our cross-border QR tracker lists every link, phase and direction with its official source.

For visitors from countries without a link, the NBC launched the Bakong Tourists app with Visa on 22 January 2025. Tourists link a Visa card issued at home, move money into a Bakong account, and pay by scanning KHQR codes.

KHQR and Bakong: the difference

The two names are often used as if they mean the same thing. They do not:

• Bakong is the payment system that moves the money between institutions. It is also the name of the NBC’s own app.
• KHQR is the QR code standard used to start a payment on that system.

A useful comparison: Bakong is the road, KHQR is the address written on the parcel. More on the system itself in Bakong explained.

Still to confirm

We publish only what an official source states. The following are not yet confirmed from an NBC document, so we leave them out of the article above:

• The number and date of the NBC Prakas on the KHQR Code Specification, which the developer documentation cites as its standard.
• The official design rules for KHQR stands and stickers (the NBC’s KHQR card guideline could not be retrieved at the time of writing).
• The current number of Bakong member institutions whose apps can pay KHQR.
• Fees for merchants receiving KHQR payments, which are set by each acquiring institution.