I n late June, more than 200 leaders in Myanmar’s finance and banking sector gathered at the Sule Shangri-La Hotel to discuss ways to modernize the rapidly developing industry. The Myanmar Banking and Finance Conference of 2016 (MBFC) brought together leaders and experts from all areas of the industry for two days of panel discussions and networking opportunities in Yangon, the country’s financial capital. Leaders from 25 local banking and finance institutions were in attendance as well as leaders from the technology sector.
Currently 90 percent of the country lacks access to a bank account, leaving the industry with massive room for growth. The only way for banks capitalize on this opportunity, according to the Managing Director of AGD Bank, Htoo Htet Tayza, is to be open to innovation.
“Banks need to think outside the box. Going digital is not enough. Banks should take a 360 degree approach to a customer’s life. They need to understand what their customers need and why they make certain decisions,” says Htoo Htet Tayza.
Banking technology, he says, must develop in parallel with that of the mobile operators industry. The mobile industry has had great success in infiltrating Myanmar’s rural population by adding more than 36 million mobile subscribers and making the country the fourth fastest growing mobile market in the world. The country’s readiness to embrace smartphone technology opens the door for non-traditional banking services, such as mobile banking, to take off in rural areas. He added that while this may seem like a tall-order for a country still plagued with frequent electrical blackouts, he believes Myanmar’s banking and finance sector has the ability to leapfrog neighboring ASEAN countries in the coming years — if and only if the sector embraces new technology.
David Wang Soe Lin, Deputy Managing Director at AYA Bank, added that while technology is important to the sector’s growth in numbers local banks should also embrace partnership and collaboration with foreign financial entities to improve the system’s quality and efficiency.
Foreign banks should not be seen as rivals, says Wang Soe Lin, rather should be looked to for mentorship. “Foreign banks can provide much-needed infrastructure and can teach local banks [about efficiency and new technology],” he says.
