Asia Green Development Bank (AGD) became the first bank in Myanmar to accept smart payment card transactions, or EMV-based Union Pay card transactions in its ATMs across the country

ASIA Green Development Bank has become the first bank in Myanmar to accept EMV-based Union Pay card transactions in its ATMs across the country. In an exclusive interview, the bank said that this is a core part of the bank’s wide-ranging efforts to go cashless and ride on the wave of digitalisation seen elsewhere in the world. In turn, this will provide a safer and more secure financial infrastructure for customers.

The bank now accepts EMV-based UnionPay chip card transactions in all its ATMs, becoming the first bank in Myanmar to offer the service. AGD Bank, UnionPay International, Diebold Nixdorf and its local partners, ACE Data Systems, and Myanmar Golden Rock are working together to deliver this new arrangement.

EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) refers to a technical specification that facilitates interoperability between chip-based cards and point-of-sale devices or ATMs. EMV helps reduce counterfeiting and fraudulent transactions, and helpsstandardise all payment solutions on a singular specification recognised internationally.

U Htoo Htet Tay Za, AGD Bank’s MD, hailed the move as “a significant leap forward in protecting our cardholders against fraud”. Similarly, Mr Wenhui Yang, General Manager of Union Pay International Southeast Asia said, “As Myanmar’s financial services infrastructure develops, we are committed to enabling safe and secure card-based solutions for businesses and consumers.”

“We are excited to work with AGD and our local partners to continually develop and implement solutions that ultimately ensure smoother, safer and more convenient transactions that benefit end customers,” commented Mr Piers Leach, country manager for Diebold Nixdorf in Myanmar.

The Myanmar Times sat down with U Kyaw Hlaing Win, AGD head of card and payments, to talk about the latest developments. 

He said accepting Union Pay card-holders at AGD ATMs will allow the customers to make cash withdrawal from the ATMs more secure. “Since 2011, AGD ATMs can accept Visa, MasterCard, Union Pay, and JCB. But then we could only process magnetic stripe data at the back of the card. In 2016 we can accept the chip data for Visa and MasterCard and right now in 2018 we can accept the EMV chip data for Union Pay cardholders. 

This innovation is an important part of helping Myanmar to become a cashless society eventually. 

“Myanmar has been a cash-based country for many years. Today, cash is still king,” he explained. But the bank is committed to digitalisation and he wanted people to start using the digital ecosystem on a daily basis.

“If we have digitalisation, this will change from cash to card, card to card-less, branch to branchless. These are all what is happening across the world at the moment. We are going digital for Myanmar to provide a digital ecosystem. AGD Bank wants to provide a more secure, easier and safer payment platform and a sound financial infrastructure for the people of Myanmar, and digital solutions are the way”, he said.

The Central Bank of Myanmar has encouraged the banking sector to go cashless, he went on. With that, the sector can save the cost from producing the banknotes and reduce the risks of fraud as well as the security risks of transferring the cash physically. That would translate into a lot of benefits for the operational aspect of a bank. 

AGD Bank Ltd, Union Pay International, Diebold Nixdorf, along with their local partners, ACE Data Systems, Myanmar Golden Rock Intl. Ltd were able to implement the EMV solution within a three-month timeframe. By accepting EMV-based transactions, a safer and more secure financial infrastructure for customers is provided.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/local-bank-becomes-first-accept-smart-payment-card-transactions.html )

​