Somboon
As the quasi-civilian Myanmar government embarks on economic and political reforms, Visa International has set its eyes on expanding in this lucrative resource-rich nation.
"Currently, there are six Visa-issuing lenders in Myanmar. Our aim is to facilitate local banks and the government in processing transactions via Visa cards for foreign investors and travellers" said Somboon Krobteeranon, Visa's Myanmar and Thailand manager.
Visa International, with 80 billion transactions in over 170 currencies a year, entered Myanmar last year when the US government lifted economic sanctions and permitted US-based firms to conduct business.
The manager pointed out that visitors to the nation can now withdraw cash from ATMs located in major cities such as Rangoon and Mandalay.
Starting in January, approximately 100 merchants began installing card-reading machines and accepting payments through Visa cards.
Somboon said the cardholders can expect the number of retailers that accept plastic to climb into the thousands within the next few years.
In Thailand, 15 million credit cards are estimated to be in circulation, while the number of card carriers is expected to grow by around 300,000-400,000 cards annually due to the recent government-mandated Bt15,000 minimum wage for university graduates.
Executives at the multinational corporation indicated that with the increased access to credit cards and the burgeoning smart-phone and tablet-computer markets, e-commerce will become the main driver of income for Visa across the globe, especially Thailand, where the growth rate will be the fastest in Southeast Asia.
According to 2011 figures collected by Visa Thailand, the total purchase volume in Thailand was Bt500 billion, and approximately Bt50 billion was spent online, Somboon said.
"Last year, 9 per cent of our volume from Thailand was from e-commerce and for this year we are looking at 15 per cent" said Ellen Richey, Visa's chief enterprise risk officer.
The proliferation of e-commerce has unfortunately increased the number of fraudulent activities committed digitally, which amounted to US$2 billion (Bt60 billion) a year with the international average for fraud amounting to six US cents per $100 spent via Visa.
However, Thailand's credit-card fraud rate is below the global average and among the lowest in Southeast Asia thanks in part to close cooperation with law enforcement, Richey said.
In a related matter, MasterCard can now be used at ATMs of Kanbawza Bank (KBZ), one of Myanmar's largest banks. This started on May 28, according to Eleven Media.
Zaw Lin Htut, senior general manager of the bank, said that MasterCard holders can withdraw cash from the ATMs now. "Our banks allow taking out of a maximum of 1 million kyats [Bt32,000] at a time. Using MasterCard will bring benefits for our national development," he added.
The transaction fee is 5000 kyats, which is about the same as the international rate, he said.
Antonio Corro, country manager (Thailand and Myanmar) of MasterCard Asia-Pacific expressed his thanks to the KBZ Bank for its collaboration in the services of MasterCard.
"I am grateful to the KBZ Bank for its cooperation. I'm very proud to make an official announcement of MasterCard's introduction ahead of the visits of prime ministers of foreign countries, CEOs and businessmen to Myanmar to attend the World Economic Forum, due to be held in Nay Pyi Taw next month," he said.
There are about 1.7 billion MasterCard users in 217 countries and nearly 32 million traders who accept MasterCard.
The KBZ Bank is one of five major private commercial banks in Myanmar and has already opened over 100 branch offices across the country. At present, US-based Visa and MasterCard, as well as China Union Pay and Japan Credit Bureau are operating in Myanmar.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/06/03/mastercard-visa-expand-operations-in-myanmar/
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