Press Release

Wave Money and Yoma team up to boost the development of Wave Money’s agents and distributors Wave Money agents can quickly and easily access Yoma Bank “Smart Credit” to improve productivity and efficiency

Yangon, 10 September 2019 – Wave Money, the leading provider of mobile financial services in Myanmar, has collaborated with Yoma Bank to boost the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), thereby supporting the country’s economic development. Through this collaboration, Yoma Bank provides unsecured, instant credit to Wave Money agents to help these agents operate their businesses more productively.

“MSMEs are key players in the country’s economic development. We believe that helping them scale is essential for boosting the country’s overall economic growth. We hope that this program will help grow not just these businesses, but the entire MSME sector and the broader economy,” said Brad Jones, CEO of Wave Money.

According to Ministry of MSME statistics, there are over 70,000 registered MSME enterprises across Myanmar. Wave Money is planning to support these businesses by enabling them to facilitate Wave Money transactions and gain access to credit from Yoma Bank.

“Yoma Bank initiated the ‘Smart Credit’ program for Wave Money agents in November 2018. Since then, we have witnessed strong demand for these loans, thanks to the fast and convenient application process, as well as the effectiveness of credit in helping the agents’ businesses grow. Wave Money is committed to our vision to ‘Create a Fairer Future for Myanmar’ and we are passionate about supporting the socio-economic development of the country,” Jones added.

Wave Money’s distributors and agents apply for the loan through Yoma Bank’s online application, and the loan is disbursed to the agent’s Yoma Bank account within one business day. The loan amount is based on the agents’ Wave Money transaction volume. The maximum eligible loan amount increases as agents conduct higher volumes of monthly transactions, and as they repay prior Yoma Bank loans on time. Since November 2018, over 50% of Wave Money’s distributors and over 20% of agents have taken a loan from Yoma Bank through this partnership.

“We collaborated with Wave Money as the first business partner for our Smart Credit program. We have been thrilled with the program’s success, having disbursed over 40 billion MMK to over 8,000 Wave Agents since November 2018. We’ve watched the transaction volumes of agents increasing on a month-over-month basis, allowing them to borrow larger loan amounts and continue their growth. We hope to on-board many more partners to help us reach even more MSMEs with this credit program,” said Jason Loughnane, Yoma Bank’s Head of Digital Credit.

Agents learn about the loan program through various channels – SMS messages, phone calls, and in-person visits from Wave Money employees. Yoma Bank prepared an instructional video teaching agents how to apply for the loan, and Wave Money has conducted awareness campaigns and training programs to raise interest in the credit offer. Agents must clear a low monthly hurdle of transaction volume to continue to remain eligible for a Yoma Bank loan, so inactive agents lose access to the credit program.

Yoma Bank and Wave Money have been collaborating to improve financial inclusion since Wave Money’s inception. Wave Money and Yoma Bank began offering Myanmar’s first real-time mobile wallet to bank linkage in August 2016, allowing Wave Money wallet users to instantly transfer funds to an account with Yoma Bank. Agents who receive loans can instantly move the funds from their Yoma Bank account to their Wave Money wallet, enabling them to process more transactions for customers, while avoiding the hassle of traveling to conduct a physical cash-in or cash-out transaction.

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About Wave Money Wave Money is the first and leading mobile financial services provider operating with over 48,000 Wave shops across Myanmar. Wave Money is a joint venture between , FMI, Yoma Bank and SGX listed Yoma Strategic Holdings and provides easy, fast and reliable mobile financial services through a nationwide agent network. Wave Money introduced a unique way of transferring money, bringing millions of people in Myanmar access to formal financial services. Through Wave Money, thousands of people a day are sending money anywhere and at any time. Wave Money’s call center operates 24/7 and is always available to respond to any customer queries. For more detailed information, please visit to our website http://www.wavemoney.com.mm.

About Yoma Bank

Founded in 1993, Yoma Bank is Myanmar’s most progressive domestic bank. Over the past few years, Yoma Bank has made significant investments in strategic priorities - people, technology and . Yoma Bank is Myanmar’s fourth largest bank by assets with over 3,000 employees and 80 branches across the country. In 2015, Yoma Bank formed a strategic partnership with Telenor to develop nationwide digital financial services through the formation of Wave Money, a mobile financial services company. Yoma Bank is committed to financial inclusion in Myanmar.