Wing Card
Wing is a Cambodian bank that is everywhere. Having a wing card makes riding the bus and paying phone bills a breeze. You can also use it like a debit card at many merchants around Cambodia. You can even use it to pay some tuktuks. A Wing card significantly reduces the hassle of always having to find small change for transportation.
Wing money agents are everywhere and the Wing website claims you can set up an account with any of them. WRONG! You can only set up an account at their main location on Monivong Blvd. How do I know this? I went to five Wing locations before finally catching a tuktuk to the main location. The website also says you can set up an account with Facebook but after my experience with their agents, I wouldn’t trust it.
Make sure you bring your passport, a phone with a Cambodian SIM card and something to read. Ideally download the Wing app to your phone before you go to save some time. You’re going to need to wait a LONG time because only ONE teller handles opening new accounts and she doesn’t take any money.
I took a number and waited about 30 minutes before the person who sets up accounts called me. It takes her about 20 minutes to gather the right paperwork and have you sign it. She also gives you the wing card (debit card) and sets up the app on your phone (enters account info into it).
Then it’s back in line with a new number to get to the teller where you put money on your account. All in all, it took about 90 minutes at the bank to set up my account and put money in.
What I didn’t know until I tried using the card on the bus was that you have to have the teller activate the card for the bus. I tried using the card on the bus several times and got the message “invalid card.” So I stopped into a wing agent to find out why. They made some calls and told me I had to go back to the main branch so the teller could activate the card.
So, back to the main branch I went. Took a number for the teller and waited 30 minutes. All they did was swipe my card in a credit card machine and enter some numbers to “Activate” it. Basically, they register it with the bus system so it works when you swipe it on the buses. You can save yourself a lot of time by doing this when you make the initial deposit.
The hassle of getting the card is well worth it. Swipe the card on the Wing card reader on city buses to pay your fare. Use the app on your phone to pay tuktuk drivers. Cellcard has a deal with Wing that gives you a small percentage back when you put money on your phone. Giant Ibis Bus takes Wing for online ticket purchases and doesn’t charge you the $1 transaction fee per ticket.
If you’re staying in Cambodia for any length of time, a Wing card is a great resource!
You might also be interested in
Leave a Reply