Currency and Banking
The currency of Cambodia is the riel. The riel was first introduced in 1953, and was in circulation until 1975. Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the riel was reissued in April 1 1980 initially at 4 riel to one US dollar. The current conversion rate is at approximately 4022 riel to one US dollar. One riel is also divided into 10 kak or 100 sen.
The riel is available in coin forms at denominations of 50, 100, 200 and 500. Coins are not commonly circulated however. Banknotes are denominated in values of 50, 100, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 riel. The initial banknotes issued in 1980 were denominated at 1, 2 and 5 kak, and 1, 5, 10 and 20 riel. Other accepted currencies in Cambodia are the US dollar and Thai baht (at bordering regions). Credit cards and travelers’ checks are still not widely accepted yet, though gaining use.
Banking services are offered in larger cities like Phnom Penh, Siam Reap Sihanoukville and Battambang. Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are still not widely available yet and are generally limited to Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. Some of the banks operating in Cambodia are:
• Acleda Bank
• ANZ/Royal Bank (ATMs available)
• Cambodia Asia Bank
• Cambodia Mekong Bank
• Cambodian Public Bank (subsidiary of the Malaysian Public Bank)
• Canadia Bank (ATMs available)
• Foreign Trade Bank of Cambodia
• Maybank (Cambodian branch of Maybank)
• SBC Bank
• Union Commercial Bank
• Vattanac Bank
Note that a local banking account is needed to use the ATMs, although the Canadia Bank accepts some debit and credit cards such as MasterCard or Cirrus.
Sources: Tourism of Cambodia website
