fidolio wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 5:27 pm After 6 year I will be visit PP again. Is it better to use Riel then dollars nowadays and can I just cash out Riels in the ATM by my Mastercard. ?

Yes, get riels, it's easier as you won't have to carry two different currencies. It's still complicated to break US$100 or 50 in small places/restaurants, but you can do it in Wing, True Money and E-Money shops.
And, as said before, you'll save a bit of money by using riels (around 2,5%, a dollar being most of the time around 4100r when you change it).
Out of PP or touristic areas, 99% of transactions are done in cash and dollar will be used only for big amounts (with $100 notes).

Enjoy !

DeparRudeAnts wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 11:38 pm

xandreu wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 6:38 pm don't think I'm alone in saying this, but hardly anyone uses cash in the KOW anymore.

Can I expand on my rather vague and seemingly irrelevant comment?

Yes, you're just wrong.. hardly anyone uses cash?
This is still very much a cash economy.

There is a degree of pure arrogance in telling someone that their personal conclusions based on their own subjective and qualified experience is "wrong".

The fact is that when I go out, which is more than you have somehow and magically concluded, based on a short statement I made about how many payments seem to be made digitally, (would. love to hear any other conclusions you've reached about me, I'll send you a photo of my palm if that would help?) it is rare, for me to see people use cash. Not impossible. Not unnusual. Not bizarre. Just rare. And becoming rarer.

I don't carry cash anymore, my friends dont carry cash anymore, and in my own subjective experience, Cambodia continues to march towards the land of the QR code.

If this seems to rile you, I'm afraid it's something you're going tro have to find a way or dealing with on your own.

You have yourself a great day.

,** Please note, in case it has not already been made clear, that all opinions, beleifs and references to having lived and worked in Cambodia are based solely on the author's experiences and it is thoroughly advised to check anything written as fact. Especially the bit about him actually going out and having friends.

Please take their advice and head over to Koh Rong with your aba account...no cash...
Oh, I was just there...no ATMs..no phone payments...cash only...
By all means have the bank and whoever else track your purchases.
I never see any of the men with no legs or old ladies begging with an aba payment...riel on one side and dollar on other...I give them cash.
I
You do see a lot of younger educated Khmer using aba...and white guys....I even see them in smoke shops using them
..I carry riel and dollars..
I pay cash for almost everything
I have a local bank with dollar and riel accounts..
I shop at cash only places...It is easier to use Riel..
Nobody going to turn you down for Riel in any condition.

Alex wrote: ↑Mon Jun 12, 2023 8:59 am

JReb wrote: ↑Mon Jun 12, 2023 5:02 am Please take their advice and head over to Koh Rong with your aba account...no cash...
Oh, I was just there...no ATMs..no phone payments...cash only...

That's nonsense. Sure, there still aren't any ATMs, but I haven't been to any hotel, restaurant or shop there that didn't accept ABA Pay as of last month. You do need to carry cash at least as a backup though, because electricity or the internet might be down when you want to pay. On my latest visit to Koh Rong, I managed to make half a dozen ABA Pay transactions and I only stayed a couple of nights.

Why don't those who prefer cash don't just say "I prefer cash" instead of claiming - nowadays usually falsely so - that it's without alternatives?

I think people responded to this sentence:

xandreu wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 6:38 pm I don't think I'm alone in saying this, but hardly anyone uses cash in the KOW anymore.

Which clearly is nonsense. Most people still carry and use cash in the KOW. Even in Phnom Penh. And those going digital 100% must be out of their mind because the QR system isn't flawless nor 100% reliable.
I have a phone, with a bank app, and I use the app for payments. But way less than I use cash payment. Even when in Phnom Penh. It's changing fast, more and more shops have QR codes, even in the province, but IMHO cash is still king, and it will remain king until the non-formal economy in Cambodia has been decimated. That might take a while.....

[edit]
Last week, on Saturday June 3rd, I tried to make a few QR payments. For some reason, all but one failed, Maybe others experienced the same that day? I don't know why but the app would for some reason refuse to scan the QR codes. It made me rethink this 'convenient' QR system.

At some stage a lot of businesses will realise that it is harder to hide their business transactions from the tax department when the taxman can ask for the bank statements related to the QR codes on display at their premises.

I've lived here for the best part of a decade...
Never had an ABA, and never scanned a QR in my life.

Uh oh, low battery.. now you're screwed.

Can't wait to have my iris' replaced with microchips though.

No, you first. Be my guest

JReb wrote: ↑Mon Jun 12, 2023 5:02 am Please take their advice and head over to Koh Rong with your aba account...no cash...
Oh, I was just there...no ATMs..no phone payments...cash only...
By all means have the bank and whoever else track your purchases.
I never see any of the men with no legs or old ladies begging with an aba payment...riel on one side and dollar on other...I give them cash.
I
You do see a lot of younger educated Khmer using aba...and white guys....I even see them in smoke shops using them
..I carry riel and dollars..
I pay cash for almost everything
I have a local bank with dollar and riel accounts..
I shop at cash only places...It is easier to use Riel..
Nobody going to turn you down for Riel in any condition.

I never see any of the men with no legs or old ladies begging with an aba payment..

I have, sort of. I saw this guy in Mexico City in 2020 and his little sign amused me enough to give him 50 pesos.

xandreu wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 6:38 pm If you're just visiting Cambodia, then the usual rules still apply - small payments are usually done in Riel, larger payments are done in dollars, although Riel is perfectly fine for larger payments also. The only reason smaller payments under a dollar can't be done using dollars is because $1 is the smallest denomination.

However, if you're staying long term, get yourself an ABA account. I don't think I'm alone in saying this, but hardly anyone uses cash in the KOW anymore. Absolutely everything and anything can be paid for via ABA. I don't even carry a wallet with me anymore. Just my phone. Can't remember the last time I went to an ATM and can't remember the last time I paid for anything in cash.

I mostly use ABA pay as well, but I still always carry cash. Some of that is for tips but also when ABA goes on the fritz, as it did a couple of weeks ago, you are fcuked without some backup.