Workers Get Salaries Winged

KHMER TIMES
SOK CHAN

Garment workers who do not have a bank account can now get their salaries through Wing. KT/Chor Sokunthea

More than 900,000 garment and footwear workers can now get their salaries through Wing (Cambodia) Limited Specialized Bank after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday between the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and the Kingdom’s leading mobile banking services provider.

GMAC president Van Sou Ieng said that his association will encourage its members to cooperate with Wing to process their monthly salary because it is convenient and secure. He urged all factory workers, including non-GMAC members, to open a Wing account since it is free.

“So far, about five factories are working with Wing to process monthly payroll for their workers. We will encourage all our 600 factory members to do this,” he said.

“All workers pay only 500 riel ($0.12) to transfer money from one Wing account to another Wing account and in the future they can use these services via mobile phone.”

Wing CEO Jojo Malolos said that this was the first time Wing has cooperated with GMAC. The MoU gives Wing an opportunity to provide a convenient service to Cambodian workers in the country, with the aim of improving their life.

He added that Wing would not only serve as a transfer money service, but it would educate factory workers on other services in the financial industry.

“This cooperation is for the people who do not have a bank account. This is not for the wealthy. This is for the people who are not able to open an account,” said Mr. Malolos.

Only 17 percent of Cambodia’s population is banked, according to findings of the FinScope Consumer Survey released in July. The study also concluded that poor access to financial services is a key impediment to financial inclusion in rural areas.

“Our barrier is education, but part of our objective is to ensure that there is knowledge in using Wing services. All 5,000 Wing agents across the country will not only be an agent but also educate [workers] on what a Wing account is and what the benefits are,” said Mr. Malolos.

“There are three million people using Wing services in the Kingdom and the company will reach about five million through the partnership with GMAC.”