Myanmar mobile wallet eyes 30m clients in 10 years

Driven by a population increasingly drawn to technology devices, Myanmar's fastest- growing mobile wallet KBZPay has set an ambitious target of reaching 30 million customers in the next 10 years, according to Soe Ko Ko, general manager of KBZPay Agent Banking.

The executive said in an interview that more than 1.6 million people have downloaded the KBZPay app and 1 million have digitally verified their accounts with national registration cards and biometric verification.

“We have had a resounding start to cross the 1-millionth KBZPay customer mark and has teamed up with more than 40,000 agents and merchants across the country,” he said.

Verified customers can access the full range of KBZPay services, including payment transactions, money transfers and mobile airtime top-up on all major telecom operators, he said.

“Many of our customers are using KBZPay for mobile top-ups, money transfers, and Quickpay for bill transactions. We see Myanmar moving away from a predominantly cash-based society with an increase in cashless transactions in everyday purchases and payments for services,” he said.

“There is strong potential for adoption of mobile-based financial services among the public, including KBZPay. We believe the growing usage of KBZPay will encourage more people to experience it. Looking forward, we have some exciting plans to promote the usage of our service on a regular basis.

According to the executive, KBZPay has partnered with Huawei Technologies Co to encourage people across the country to seamlessly use the wallet.

As a product of KBZ, Myanmar’s largest private bank, the application was introduced in May 2018 and has been growing since.

“KBZPay allows customers to access the most essential financial services at all time, it offers a safer, simpler and more convenient way for transaction and this has set us apart from our competitors,” he said.

“We will introduce new features to meet the requirements of our growing base of customers, merchants and agents, towards our goal of becoming a provider of 100 per cent financial inclusion.”

More than 18,000 employees of KBZ Bank have been visiting communities and public areas in all states and regions nationwide to raise people’s awareness of the mobile wallet. They also encourage stores, cafes, restaurants and service providers across the country to offer KBZPay.

“We will continue to engage and sign up more merchants to bring financial services beyond the branch doors.

We expect to see organic growth of both customer and merchant networks,” said Soe Ko Ko.

KBZPay works with authorised agents to facilitate money transfers and cash withdrawals, and to enable its customers to make cashless transactions. As a result, more people in Myanmar now have access to financial services and the formal economy, said the executive.

“Anyone with a smartphone using a local SIM can register for KBZPay free-of-charge, regardless whether the person has a bank account. It is easy to use and user-friendly,” he said.

Editor: John Li