Myanmar’s rapid roll-out of credit card acceptance and ATMs is gaining pace.

Ayeyarwady Bank Limited (Aya Bank) has gone live with ATM acceptance for cash withdrawals using MasterCard and Maestro/Cirrus cards.

That’s just a week after MasterCard announced that Asia Green Development Bank Limited (AGD Bank) began accepting MasterCard payments cards for cash withdrawals.

MasterCard says it means more ease and convenience for the 1 million visitors expected to converge in Myanmar during the 27th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) which will be held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, from December 11 to 22.

Aya Bank currently has 69 ATMs and over 52 branches across the country.

“While we are a local bank, we subscribe to global best practices and we are especially proud to be partners with a global payments expert such as MasterCard to offer ATM cash withdrawals to some of the 2 billion MasterCard and Maestro/Cirrus cardholders worldwide for whenever they travel to Myanmar,” said Aya Bank MD Phyo Aung.

As of November 2013, the number of active ATMs in Myanmar that accept MasterCard and Maestro/Cirrus cards stands at over 350 ATMs.

Meanwhile, MasterCard is accepted for payments at more than 500 restaurants, retail outlets and hotels in Myanmar, ahead of the expected year-end target as reported earlier this year, following the rollout of point-of-sale (POS) terminals in March.

In October, the country witnessed the launch of its first prepaid card, made available to Myanmar residents for when they travel outside of the country, indeed a historic milestone for local citizens who up till now had to carry cash on their travels overseas.

As of November 20, MasterCard has nine partners in Myanmar (eight financial institutions and one finance company).