Ayeyarwady Bank (AYA Bank) and Visa has launched multicurrency prepaid travel cards for corporate and individual travellers going abroad, the firms announced.
The AYA World Travel Visa card, which can hold up to three currencies (Euro, US dollar, Singaporean dollar), will allow cardholders to pay for purchases abroad, the bank said.
It can be used to make purchases at all merchants, either online or in-store, where Visa is accepted, besides having immediate cash access at ATMs worldwide, AYA Bank added. The bank will issue two types of cards – corporate and individual.
“AYA Bank is the first bank offering the corporate card solution in the electronic payments sector,” Phyo Aung, managing director of AYA Bank said.
“Now that the country is opening up, more local businesses are entering the global market and travel and entertainment is the one of the largest business expenses in most organisations and it continues to grow,” he added.
Phyo Aung said the AYA corporate card can assist businesses with better control over their business expenses. “It will reduce the time spent authorising and tracking transactions.”
He said with individual cards, cardholders can travel “safely and conveniently” without worrying to carry a large amount of notes when they travel.
An additional feature of the new card is Visa PayWave contactless payment technology, which allows the cardholder to make contactless payments where Visa PayWave is accepted.
Somboon Krobteeranon, Visa country manager, Myanmar and Thailand, said these cards will provide both corporates and individual cardholders with “greater security and convenience” in the ways they can pay when abroad.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Ayeyarwady Bank to introduce additional products that will support the development of Myanmar’s financial infrastructure,” he said.
As of March, Ayeyarwady Bank had 68 branches countrywide and its non-bank customer deposits reached over K800 billion ($831.6 million).
