Cambodia is witnessing significant progress in enhancing financial well-being, consumer rights, and protection through the "Safe Finance in Community" initiative. This vital project, jointly launched and developed in July 2023 by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA), in cooperation with the Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC), Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA), Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC), and Cerise+SPTF is actively working to build greater financial literacy and inclusion.
The impact of these efforts is already evident at the grassroots level. Dedicated Community Facilitators (CFs) and Village Volunteers (VVs) have successfully conducted activities in villages, reaching out to new community members from low-income families, small-scale farmers, MSMEs, and vulnerable populations, particularly women, across four target communes in four provinces (Battambang, Kampong Thom, Svay Rieng and Kampong Speu). Two approaches, the outreach and the mainstream meeting agenda on financial literacy and consumer empowerment, have been done in order to achieve the program objectives. These outreach team visit the target village and helped participants understand about the financial literacy and empowering them.. The commune chief frequently incorporates the mainstreaming agenda into every meeting held in the commune or village. During these meetings, the leader uses the opportunity to educate community facilitators (CFs) and village volunteers (VVs) about financial literacy and consumer empowerment. This approach enhances their understanding of the program, enabling them to share valuable knowledge with the community members.
As of March 2025, the accumulated results show that the project has impacted 22,125 individuals (15,262 female) in the four target communes across four provinces, who participated in awareness sessions conducted by community facilitators (CFs) and village volunteers (VVs). More than this a total of 4,553 individuals (1,605 female) attended and benefited from embracing financial literacy through mainstreaming activities led by commune councils, which also integrated financial literacy into their agendas.
To facilitate the project’s financial education programs efficiently and effectively, the project’s Central Committee developed a guideline and educational tools. The program has developed five financial education modules covering: (i) Fundamentals of Financial Literacy, (ii) Understanding Financial Services, (iii) Preparedness for the Financial Market, (iv) Rights and Obligations of Consumers, and (v) Monitoring and Improving Financial Behavior.
The project which aims to enhance financial literacy, and consumer right and protection by increasing safer access to formal financial services within communities, is aligning with the Royal Government's Safe Village-Commune Policy. It also contributes to the National Strategy on Financial Inclusion 2019-2025 and is in accordance with the National Bank of Cambodia's Financial Sector Development Strategy 2016-2025.
The Core activities of the project include:
(i) Providing training to trainers (TOT) at the national and sub-national levels, Community Facilitators (CF), and Village Volunteers (VV) at the commune and village levels on financial knowledge, following the guidelines of the NBC.
(ii) Implementing communication outreach to update people about potential financial products and services within target communities.
(iii) Conducting monthly or quarterly home visits and public meetings at the commune/Sangkat level to improve financial literacy and promote formal financial services.
(iv) Utilizing digital and other educational materials adapted to the community context to educate potential target groups, particularly women entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises, and smallholder farmers.
