Card payments will be accepted in more than 500 restaurants, retail outlets and hotels in Myanmar by the end of the year when the rollout of Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals by Co-operative Bank Ltd (CB Bank) and MasterCard Worldwide is completed.
The nationwide rollout will see POS credit card acceptance in hotels and retail outlets in Yangon, followed by the cities of Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay and Bagan towards the second quarter of 2013.
This will enable merchants in Myanmar to accept MasterCard payment cards, giving them access to electronic commerce and the ability to participate in the open, global payments system that MasterCard enables. CB Bank staff will organize training sessions for front-line staff on how to use the terminals.
Antonio Corro, country manager and chief representative, Indochina, MasterCard Worldwide, said the rollout of POS acceptance would benefit the growth seen in both the retail and tourism sectors.
Visitors to Myanmar boomed in 2012, with more than a million people travelling to the country compared with around 816,000 in 2011, according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
“With visitors increasing and new businesses starting up in the country it is vital that the appropriate payments mechanisms are in place to handle the demands of growth across multiple sectors,” Corro said.
Kyaw Lynn, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of CB Bank, said this will bring new opportunities to the country and will also provide opportunities to develop the frontline skills needed to support the country’s growth.