Myanmar lures visa, other foreign credit card issuers
Overseas credit card companies are looking to Myanmar as the country shifts from cash to card payments. U.S.-based Visa teamed up with Myanmar’s Co-operative Bank (CB Bank) on Jan. 17 to issue credit cards with limits of between 4 million kyat and 5 million kyat($2,946 and $3,683). Opening accounts at CB Bank will enable customers to use Visa cards at member stores overseas and at about 7,000 hotels and other locations in Myanmar. It is the first time Visa will issue credit cards in the Southeast Asian country. Since entering Myanmar in 2012, the American company has issued debit cards and processed payments made with credit cards brought in from abroad. Arturo Planell, country manager of Visa Myanmar, said the adoption of an electronic settlement system will boost the country’s growth. On Jan. 25, Visa also started partnering with Kanbawza Bank, Myanmar’s largest private bank.
