As Myanmar’s largest privately-owned bank with over 500 branches, KBZ Bank already operates the country’s leading mobile wallet, KBZPay. However, in 2024, the bank reinforced its capabilities as a pioneer in the domestic banking landscape by driving further digital transformation to achieve greater financial inclusion across Myanmar.

This initiative centred on the introduction and promotion of the KBZPay Mini App solution – a technological innovation designed to empower businesses to digitise their operations, expand their reach and connect seamlessly with millions of KBZPay users.

The subsequent enhancement to customer engagement has been clear to see. For example, the number of active KBZPay users jumped by four million in 2024, to reach 19 million in total across Myanmar, representing 43% of the adult population.

The journey began with a target to increase the number of active KBZPay users for their daily financial tasks – by expanding the ecosystem, introducing new services and improving the user experience.

In response, the KBZPay Mini App solution, an application within the KBZPay mobile wallet, was developed to give users easy access to a widget that hosts and provides miniature app-like experiences – or in-app e-commerce stores – within the KBZPay ecosystem. In short, it helps mobile wallet users across Myanmar more easily access a wider range of convenient services, therefore also enabling merchants to tap into a vast user base and streamline their digital presence.

Yet to stimulate the creation of the new Mini Apps and digital solutions, KBZ Bank had to foster a robust developer community to encourage innovation and collaboration within the KBZPay ecosystem.

It was an effective strategy. A key indicator of the success and positive impact of KBZ Bank’s initiative in Myanmar has been the considerable increase in the number of businesses utilising the KBZPay Mini App solution. More specifically, as of December 2024, the KBZPay Mini App ecosystem had expanded to over 40 applications across eight sectors, including shopping, travel, food, entertainment, delivery, leisure, general service, and astrology.

Further, KBZPay unveiled new capabilities at the end of last year, including Mini App templates designed for sectors such as retail, gaming and streaming. As a result, businesses can start operating quickly within the KBZPay ecosystem, without the need for significant investment or developing an app from scratch, in turn helping them reduce operational costs. Instead, it allows them to allocate more resources to delivering value to customers.

Through its innovative approach, KBZ Bank has differentiated itself by not only providing cutting-edge technological solutions, but also by actively engaging and supporting the business and developer communities.

The impact of this KBZ Bank initiative can also be seen on the wider market – through it stimulating economic growth and empowering businesses to thrive in the digital economy by bridging the gap between traditional commerce and digital platforms. More broadly, the bank has supported the national agenda of digitising Myanmar’s economy and enhancing financial inclusion.

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