Mastercard Marks First P O S Transaction In Myanmar

[SeaVisionBurma]

By Justin Heifetz | Wednesday, 06 March 2013 Myanmar Times

MasterCard marked its first Point-of-Sale (POS) transaction in Myanmar at Golden Myanmar Airlines on March 4 before announcing plans to establish 500 POS devices by Co-operative Bank and MasterCard Worldwide throughout the country.

MasterCard and CB want to target more than 500 restaurants, retail outlets and hotels for POS devices by the end of the year, a statement from MasterCard released on March 4 says. While MasterCard will begin the rollout in Yangon, it plans to hit Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay and Bagan towards the second quarter of 2013, the statement continues.

The transaction on March 4 was for the purchase of airline tickets routed through Mandalay International Airport. A POS device, also known as a POS terminal, is a computerised replacement for a cash register that can process debit and credit cards.

“The rollout of POS terminals across the country is a huge and significant step forward for CB and for Myanmar’s economy. Developing a new payment infrastructure will bring new opportunities to the country and will also provide opportunities to develop the frontline skills needed to support the country’s growth,” said U Kyaw Lynn, executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of CB, the statement reports.

Kanbawza Bank, Myanmar’s largest private bank, entered a bank license agreement with MasterCard for the acceptance and issuance of cards on February 26, U Zaw Lin Htut, KBZ’s general manager said.

“Following the Central Bank of Myanmar’s regulations, we can now accept transactions from international [MasterCard] card holders. We will start to allow MasterCard transactions at our ATMs first and then we plan to later deploy POS terminals at our merchants for MasterCard acceptance.

“We are now in the process of technical integration,” U Zaw Lin Htut told The Myanmar Times on March 6.

MasterCard also entered a bank license agreement with United Amara Bank. A representative from the private bank could not be reached for comment and the Central Bank of Myanmar could not confirm the date of the licensing agreement.

Full article here: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/4435-mastercard-marks-first-pos-transaction-in-myanmar.html

[tombkk]

Great! My hope is that credit cards will be accepted everywhere in Myanmar soon (certainly before the SEA Games), like in other ASEAN countries.

[SeaVisionBurma]

I have to admit - I was still skeptical at the promise of credit card/ATM access even towards the end of last year - but the progress so far is brilliant.

Had a friend arrive in Yangon last week, and she used her Kasikorn Visa debit card to withdraw kyats from an ATM.

If anyone else has first hand experience of using their credit card for a POS transaction somewhere in Yangon - please post and let us know.

[tombkk]

I have to admit - I was still sceptical at the promise of credit card/ATM access even towards the end of last year - but the progress so far is brilliant.

Had a friend arrive in Yangon last week, and she used her Kasikorn Visa debit card to withdraw kyats from an ATM.

If anyone else has first hand experience of using their credit card for a POS transaction somewhere in Yangon - please post and let us know.

When I first heard sometime last year in a meeting of local and international bankers that Visa and Mastercard where trying to enter Myanmar, I was not skeptical: The SEA Games will be in Myanmar in summer this year.

1.) Who will visit if they can't use their cards?

2.) How much profit is there to be made for the powerful credit card companies from the visitors?

All will be smooth by the time the visitors plan their trips and book their tickets and hotels. That was my prediction last year, and it still stands.