Its launch comes exactly three years on from the lifting of sanctions in Myanmar and affirms MasterCard’s commitment to provide safer and easier ways for Myanmar residents to pay for their travels.
The new prepaid card is also timely given the latest MasterCard survey on consumer purchasing priorities in travel indicates that three out of five Myanmar consumers surveyed intend to travel within the next 12 months (either as much, or more than they did in the past 12 months).
The MAB Travel Prepaid MasterCard provides a secure way for consumers to make payment when travelling overseas for leisure, business or education, and also when shopping on e-commerce sites.
“We know that leisure travel and shopping are on the rise among Myanmar citizens and we hope this product will help to meet their needs,” said Win Min Khine, managing director, Myanmar Apex Bank.
MasterCard country manager, Thailand & Myanmar, Antonio Corro said: “Myanmar’s gradual opening up presents many opportunities for entrepreneurship and commerce to flourish, and their progressive participation in the global payments system that MasterCard enables not only aids the development of the local payments landscape, but also facilitates global connections.”
Since 2012, MasterCard has launched prepaid cards together with Co-operative Bank, Kanbawza Bank, Ayeyarwady Bank and Myanmar Citizen Bank with 2C2P, the last of which was also Myanmar’s first smartphone-enabled Prepaid Card.
At present, more than 2,000 restaurants, retail outlets and hotels in Myanmar accept payment cards.