UPI-KHQR

Overview

The UPI-KHQR Linkage enables Indian travellers to pay at Cambodian merchants by scanning KHQR, Cambodia's national and interoperable QR code standard, using their existing UPI apps ¹². It was launched in Phnom Penh on 2 June 2026 by NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of India's National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in partnership with ACLEDA Bank Plc. ¹. KHQR is the QR system underpinning Cambodia's Bakong payment platform, operated by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC); the corpus records KHQR as an EMV-compliant national QR standard with cross-border acceptance across multiple countries ^{Cambodia report}. India's own corpus had flagged the Cambodia UPI link as planned for H2 2026 ^{Cambodia report}.

History

The linkage was launched at a formal ceremony in Phnom Penh on 2 June 2026, attended by H.E. Dr. Chea Serey, Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), along with representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ¹. The launch was delivered through a partnership between NIPL and ACLEDA Bank, Cambodia's largest bank and a KHQR operator ^{1Cambodia report}. The initiative is part of the RBI's broader strategy of interlinking UPI with fast payment systems in other countries to promote efficient cross-border transactions, in line with the G20 roadmap for cheaper, faster, more transparent, and more accessible international payments ¹. Cambodia's report had earlier listed an India UPI link as planned for H2 2026, consistent with the June 2026 go-live ^{Cambodia report}.

Technical specification

Linkage model. This is a merchant-QR acceptance linkage: an Indian traveller opens a UPI app and scans the KHQR code displayed at a Cambodian merchant to complete payment ¹². KHQR is Cambodia's standard and interoperable QR system tied to the Bakong platform ^{1Cambodia report}.

QR interoperability. UPI apps are made interoperable with KHQR, allowing UPI users to transact against KHQR merchant codes that settle in real time through Bakong; KHQR is documented as EMV-compliant in the corpus ^{1Cambodia report}.

Coverage and direction. At launch, Indian travellers could pay at more than 4.5 million merchant outlets across tourist attractions, restaurants, and retail outlets ¹². The first phase is one-directional (Indians paying in Cambodia); a subsequent phase will let Cambodian visitors pay at UPI-QR-enabled merchants in India using their Cambodian banking/payment apps ¹.

Use cases

• Tourist merchant payments (inbound to Cambodia). The launch phase lets Indian travellers pay Cambodian merchants by scanning KHQR, without cash or currency exchange at the point of sale ¹².
• Reverse direction (planned). A later phase will enable Cambodian visitors to India to pay at UPI-QR-enabled Indian merchants using their Cambodian apps ¹.
• Merchant benefits. Cambodian merchants gain access to Indian digital consumers and improved cash management via real-time settlement ¹.

Implementations

The Cambodian acquiring partner is ACLEDA Bank Plc., with the National Bank of Cambodia as the platform authority for Bakong/KHQR ^{1Cambodia report}. On the Indian side, NIPL manages the UPI international connection ¹. Indian consumers use their standard UPI apps; Cambodian acceptance runs through the existing Bakong/KHQR merchant network of 4.5 million+ outlets ¹².

Comparison

UPI-KHQR follows the same merchant-QR acceptance model as the UPI-LankaQR (Sri Lanka) linkage — Indian travellers scan a foreign national QR to pay merchants — rather than the two-way account-to-account remittance model of UPI-PayNow (India–Singapore) ¹. It is a bilateral linkage between NIPL and a domestic partner (ACLEDA/NBC), distinct from joining the multilateral Nexus Global Payments hub, and far narrower in scope than the UPI-TIPS euro-area settlement effort ¹. Cambodia already operates cross-border QR links with several ASEAN countries plus Japan and Korea, making the India link one of many KHQR corridors ^{Cambodia report}.

Fun facts

• Cambodia's KHQR runs on the Bakong platform, built on blockchain technology (Hyperledger Iroha, with Soramitsu), giving the India link a blockchain-settled acceptance side ^{Cambodia report}.
• The launch immediately exposed Indian UPI users to 4.5 million Cambodian merchant outlets in a single go-live ¹².

Status

Live (Phase 1) since 2 June 2026, covering Indian travellers paying at 4.5 million+ Cambodian KHQR merchants; the reverse direction (Cambodian visitors paying in India) is announced for a subsequent phase ¹².

Sources

1 NIPL & ACLEDA Bank Launch UPI Acceptance In Cambodia Through KHQR — FintechBizNews, 2026 2 Indian travellers can now make UPI payments at over 4.5 mn merchant outlets in Cambodia: NPCI — ANI, 2026 3 UPI expands international presence to Cambodia through KHQR linkage — Business Standard, 2026

Deployments

No country reports mention this standard by name.

Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country

• India–Cambodia