Myanmar Payment Union (MPU) and JCB International Co, a subsidiary of Japanese credit card company JCB Co Ltd, have signed a licensing deal to issue JCB cards in Myanmar, the firms said.
With this agreement, MPU member banks in Myanmar will be able to issue MPU/JCB co-branded cards linking to their customers’ saving bank accounts.
MPU, which was established in 2011 under the guidance of CBM, authorises the issuance and acceptance of all payment cards within the country. MPU, which is the only payment network in Myanmar, consists of 21 banks and is in charge of constructing a cashless electronic retail payment environment.
By adding JCB payment services on its network, MPU and its member banks will be offering their customers card payment services at JCB’s network of 27 million locations in 190 countries and territories.
MPU/JCB co-branded cards will be issued with J/Smart, JCB’s EMV compliant chip program, to facilitate secure payment transactions in Myanmar, an initiative that is seen as a valuable addition to MPU and its member bank’s domestic portfolio.
MPU and JCBI have been developing their partnership since 2013, and now JCB cards are accepted at most card locations in the region through MPU network.
Kimihisa Imada, deputy president of JCBI, called the move “a turning point” for JCBI’s business in Myanmar.
“With the strong leadership of MPU in the financial industry, JCBI promises to share its experiences and knowledge of payment business to contribute to the healthy development of Myanmar’s payment industry.”
Mya Than, chairman of MPU, said, “Through the partnership with JCBI, we believe we can enhance convenience of our customers in Myanmar. We hope that our partnership will introduce more attractive services and more customers prefer using MPU JCB co-branded cards not only domestically but also all over the world with JCB’s acceptance network.”
