Cambodia gives Mobitel until February to comply with mobile banking regulations

Cambodian mobile network operator, Mobitel has been given until next February to ensure its mobile money service complies with the Central Bank regulations. The mobile network is now required to seek a partner with a local bank to support the mobile money transfer service.

The Central Bank issued a ruling in August that it must oversee credit remittances - which it says includes the money transfer services provided by mobile networks.

The Cellcard Cash service which was launched in September without Central Bank approval after the network operator interpreted the regulations as not being applicable to its service. At the time, the mobile network's operations manager Kay Lot said that the company did not consider mobile-money transfers to be banking.

The GSMA, which helped fund the service was reported last month to have suspended grant payments, worth up to US$5 million, until the situation is resolved.