Tuesday 19 March 2013

Visa announces POS roll out in Myanmar

Visa will extend their network of Point-of-Sales (POS) transactions by April or May throughout the country, said the spokespersons of domestic banks on March 15.

Visa signed new licensing agreements with domestic banks Kanbawza, Myanmar’s largest private bank; Co-operative Bank; and Myanmar Oriental Bank on March 14.


KBZ’s general manager, U Zaw Lin Htut, said the bank started allowing ATM transactions for Visa cards in December and will target POS transactions in April. He said the bank plans to roll out POS services at merchants in Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle: the same target areas for their Visa-ready ATMs.

Electronic payments at KBZ ATMs – also including MPU – have increased 20 percent from the go-live date, U Zaw Lin Htut said.

“A lot of tourists are coming to Myanmar this year, and international travelers hold international cards. This will increase the sale of local products and promote local industries – we’re supporting the growth of our economy,” he said.

“We now have a lot of technology for international transfers and international payment settlement,” he added.
CB managing director U Pe Myint said their banks will roll out their POS network with Visa in May because of the long holiday for Water Festival in April.

CB already started their roll out with MasterCard in Yangon in early March.

“We will target merchants in tourist attraction areas, mainly hotels and restaurants,” U Pe Myint said.
Both KBZ and CB banks will issue Visa cards to Myanmar citizens under a permit from the Myanmar Central Bank and an agreement with Visa, sources from the MCB told The Myanmar Times on March 15.

“We’ve made plans to issue Visa cards [to Myanmar nationals], but we need to go through many steps and negotiate between issuers first,” U Pe Myint said.

source: The Myanmar Times

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