The FINANCIAL — Just a week after MasterCard announced that Asia Green Development Bank Limited (AGDBank) began accepting MasterCard payments cards for cash withdrawals, another bank Ayeyarwady Bank Limited (AYA Bank) has also gone live with ATM acceptance for cash withdrawals using MasterCard and Maestro/Cirrus cards, according to MasterCard.
This means more ease and convenience for the one million visitors expected to converge in Myanmar during the 27th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) which will be held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, from 11 to 22 December 2013. AYA Bank currently has 69 ATMs and over 52 branches across the country.
“While we are a local bank, we subscribe to global best practices and we are especially proud to be partners with a global payments expert such as MasterCard to offer ATM cash withdrawals to some of the two billion MasterCard and Maestro/Cirrus cardholders worldwide for whenever they travel to Myanmar. As we continue to invest significantly in training and technology, we hope to be able to expand our offerings for our customers in partnership with MasterCard in the near future,” said Mr. Phyo Aung, Managing Director, AYA Bank.
“As we stop to take stock of the past year, we are really proud of the achievements we have charted in Myanmar; from our first ATM cash withdrawal to our first POS acceptance to most significantly our first prepaid travel card. Indeed it has been a great year of milestones and we’re hoping that next year will bring even bigger and better successes as we continue to work closely with our esteemed partners to develop the local payments landscape,” said Mr. Antonio Corro, country manager, Thailand and Myanmar, MasterCard.
As of November 2013, the number of active ATMs in Myanmar that accept MasterCard and Maestro/Cirrus cards stands at over 350 ATMs. Meanwhile, MasterCard is accepted for payments at more than 500 restaurants, retail outlets and hotels in Myanmar, ahead of the expected year-end target as reported earlier this year, following the rollout of Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals in March.
In October, the country witnessed the launch of its first prepaid card in the country, made available to Myanmar residents for when they travel outside of the country, indeed a historic milestone for local citizens who up till now had to carry cash on their travels overseas, according to MasterCard.
As of 20 November 2013, MasterCard has nine partners in Myanmar (eight Financial Institutions & one Finance Company): Co-Operative Bank Ltd; Kanbawza Bank Ltd; United Amara Bank Ltd; Myanma Apex Bank Ltd; Myanmar Citizens Bank Ltd; Myanmar Oriental Bank Ltd; Ayeyarwady Bank Ltd; Asia Green Development Bank Ltd; and Ryuji Finance Company Ltd.
Discussion about this post