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The liquidator for embattled payment service H-Pay said on Wednesday that the company operated beyond the scope of its license and is insolvent, months after the platform halted withdrawals and ceased operations.
The announcement comes weeks after the United States proposed expanding financial restrictions to H-Pay, describing it as the successor to sanctioned payment platform Huione Pay, which Washington cut off from the U.S. financial system last year over allegations it laundered billions of dollars tied to cryptocurrency scams and cyber heists.
Since H-Pay and Huione Pay suspended operations in April following action by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and a CamboJA News report on the rebrand, customers have staged repeated protests demanding the return of their deposits, though authorities have said they are unlikely to recover their funds.
In a notice, liquidator Reach & Partners said it had completed its winding-up process and invited creditors to submit claims by May 25. It said it had “serious concerns” that H-Pay conducted business beyond the scope of the license granted by the central bank and could face penalties if the violations are confirmed.
Reach & Partners also said H-Pay is insolvent and lacks sufficient funds to settle its liabilities. It advised creditors to await further announcements from a court-appointed liquidator.
The findings offered little hope for customers still trying to recover money frozen in H-Pay accounts.
Thy Sreynuch, a seafood trader in Preah Sihanouk province, said she has nearly $60,000 inaccessible in her H-Pay account after Huione Pay transferred customers and operations to the platform.
She questioned why H-Pay was allowed to continue operating after Huione Pay’s license was revoked in September 2024, a decision the central bank announced publicly in December 2025. She said she deposited her money with Huione Pay during that period.
“Why didn’t anyone inform the public in advance? And why was the company still operating as usual?” she said, adding that the ordeal had taken a financial and emotional toll.
Sreynuch said NBC should help resolve the issue, even if customers cannot recover their full losses. She said banks are required to maintain deposits with the central bank and questioned why those funds could not be used to compensate customers when a financial institution fails.
Customers have reported that H-Pay and Huione Pay offered loans, cryptocurrency remittance services and fixed-term deposit accounts, despite holding payment service licenses that did not permit such activities.
Panha, who works at a private company in Phnom Penh and asked that it not be named, said her firm’s funds and money belonging to clients have remained inaccessible since the liquidation.
She said the central bank had previously advised affected customers to seek remedies through the courts, but she was not confident litigation would provide an effective solution.
NBC and its Cambodia Financial Intelligence Unit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cambodia remains one of the few ASEAN countries without a national deposit insurance scheme. International financial institutions and the central bank have spent more than a decade discussing such a program, which officials say could also encourage greater use of the riel.
H-Pay’s insolvency comes amid broader jitters in Cambodia’s financial sector after several banks and payment firms were liquidated or sanctioned by foreign governments over the past year.
