Thai, Burmese Banks Open Remittance Service
By Nang Mya Nadi
Asian Green Development Bank and Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank signed an agreement on 8 May to create a remittance service between the two countries.
On Tuesday, AGDB’s deputy-chairman Zaw Min and the K-Bank’s Senior Executive Vice President Somkid Jiranuntarat signed an agreement in Bangkok at Kasikorn’s headquarters in front of officials from the Burmese embassy and the World Bank.
“Migrants sending their hard-earn cash from Thailand back to their homes via unofficial money transfer services often end up losing their money so based on this consideration, we sought approval from the World Bank to run an official remittance service,” said an official from K-Bank.
The exchange rate will be based on daily EU currency rates. The bank said it will offer special discount services to migrant workers and is looking to hire Burmese staff at select branches.
K-Bank said they aim to have the service up and running in June. The first bank to host the service will be in Mahachai district near Bangkok, where a large Burmese community is located.
Kasikorn is the first bank to use Burmese language interface with their ATM machines at more than 20 locations in Thailand.
Asia Green Development Bank is owned by the powerful businessman Tay Za, whom Forbes has described as Burma’s first billionaire and who has benefited from close relations with top-level government officials.
