Enjoy Cashless Life and Big Discount in Cambodia with Pi Pay, Cambodian local Mobile Payment App

Pi Pay releases you from Cash and Wallet

According to internet consulting firm “iResearch”, the GMV of third-party mobile payment in China reached 5.5 trillion USD last year [1]. Compared with 14 million USD in 2011, it is 385 times. This rapid expanding has been led by China’s two tech giants, Alibaba and Tencent. At the end of December 2016, Tencent’s daily payment transactions exceeded 600 million. 40% of Chinese regularly carry less than 100 RMB cash and 52% use cash for only 20% or less in their monthly consumption [2]. Alipay and WeChat Pay are becoming a part of Chinese people’s everyday life.

By the way, do you know Mobile Payment apps exist already in Cambodia? You can buy a doughnut at Krispy Kreme Doughnut with “Pi Pay”, one of the Cambodian mobile payment apps instead of cash in Phnom Penh. The cashless movement happens not only in China and reaches such a small emerging country.

Pi Pay’s brand color is pink. It’s easy to find shops where you can pay with Pi Pay.

This pink app not only releases you from wallet and cash but also provide big discounts at many merchants. When I bought doughnuts with Pi Pay, I got 10% discounts. Nobody hates discount, right? From the next chapter, I’m going to share how to use Pi Pay and my experience with this app.

[1] China’s Third Party Online Payment GMV Soared 62.2% in 2016
[2] 2017 Mobile Payment Usage in China | Tencent Research Institute

More than 5 Mobile Payment Apps exist in Cambodia already

Before I introduce “Pi Pay”, I will show you about Cambodian mobile payment apps.

Based on Cryptoasia, the market for mobile payment platforms has grown rapidly in Cambodia over the past 5 years. Cambodian is using payment system more and more every day. Nowadays, we have many options such as Pi Pay, SmartLuy, PayGo, Wing, Acleda Unity, mobile banking apps etc [3].

Cambodian mobile payment apps:

The result of my research shows that Pi Pay app is available only in Phnom Penh but you can pay with its mobile app at 163 places including popular restaurants and cafes [4].

[3] The Top Mobile Payment Systems in Cambodia
[4] I count on Pi Pay app.

How does Pi Pay work?

This stage, let’s get started to know how do Pi Pay work.
There are 7 steps to pay with Pi Pay.

1. Install Pi Pay app on Google Play/App Store
2. Register Pi Pay app
3. Register “Silver Account” on Pi Pay
4. Cash in your Pi Pay wallet
5. Search Merchant
6. Scan to Pay
7. Type Pin number to proceed payment

I’m going to show you step by step about how to pay with this mobile payment app.

1. Install app
First of all, Install Pi Pay mobile payment app from Google Play or App Store.
*Note: Requires Android 5.0 or later/Requires iOS 8.0 or later

2. Register Pi Pay app
After opening the app, the tutorial will be shown. After that, choose language, then fill name and phone number.
*Note: You must fill your real phone number.

After you submit the data, quickly you will get One Time Password through SMS from Pi Pay. Enter the password.

Your Pi Pay account is already created!

3. Register “Silver Account” on Pi Pay
There is another registration. To use mobile payment, you need to register “Wallet” on Pi Pay. You have to fill the information regarding your personal identity in order to use mobile payment on Pi Pay.

Register Wallet

Fill your personal information

After filling the required info and accepting the terms and conditions, finally, Mobile Payment is ready.

4. Cash in your Pi Pay Wallet
In the previous step, your wallet on Pi Pay becomes ready but you need to cash in your Pi Pay Wallet before going to buy at a merchant.
There are 2 ways to cash in Pi Pay Wallet with cash:

1. At PayGo CashIn Kiosks

You can find Paygo Kiosks from the map via the next link: https://paygo.com.kh/#true-24

2. At Pi Pay’s merchants

*Not available at some merchants

More details about Cash in, please watch the official tutorial video below.

5. Search Shop where you want to go
In “Places” tab, you can search shops where you can pay for with Pi Pay.

Places tab

Merchants are listed on Places tab

6. Scan QR Code and Proceed Payment
After you decide to buy anything at the shop where you search in the previous step, the mobile payment step is:

6.1. Scan QR Code which is displayed on the device which the shop has.

6.2. Type pin number to accept the payment
Next, enter your PIN code on your Pi Pay app to accept the payment.

Review of Cambodian Mobile Payment experience with Pi Pay

I experienced to pay with Alipay and WeChat Pay at Shanghai, I did not need to scan QR Code on the merchant’s device and enter Pin code. Instead of that, the merchant staff scanned my QR Code on my app. So all you need to do for Mobile Payment is just showing your QR Code on your Alipay or WeChat Pay.

Alipay and WeChat Pay are more simple and convenient.

Compared to these Chinese giant apps, to be honest, I feel that Pi Pay’s payment process is not so smart. But it does not mean Pi Pay is not useful. I’m satisfied with Pi Pay’s mobile payment experience and hope that Pi Pay and this cashless movement will spread throughout Cambodia soon.

Let me share my personal opinion. I think Pi Pay has two main advantages. The first one is that we don’t need to carry cash. If you have ABA Bank account, you can transfer money to your Pi Pay account with ABA’s mobile banking app. The other one is Big Discount. Pi Pay offers attractive discounts up to 50% at partner merchants. Recently, in Cambodia, there many apps and services offer discount at their partner merchants. Among them, Pi Pay’s discount is the biggest, based on my research.

In Cambodia, the era is changing from Nokia to smartphone. It means that Cambodian mobile payment market will increase rapidly. Wing, the Cambodian first mobile money transfer service, has started to enter Mobile Payment market but they seem to struggle to adapt to Smartphone Era. If Pi Pay catches this wave, this awesome FinTech app will be the disruptive app in Cambodia.

Summary

Pi Pay offers Mobile Payment and Big Discount in Phnom Penh. As I described above, Pi Pay has started cooperated with a bank and enabled us to transfer money to Pi Pay account with Mobile Banking App. Slightly less convenient compared to Alipay and WeChat Pay, but if you live in Cambodia there is no reason you don’t make use of Pi Pay. Enjoy the cashless life with Pi Pay in Cambodia.

Download Pi Pay