Post-coup banking, ATM services remain spotty at best

By DMG 22 Nov 2021

DMG Newsroom
22 November 2021, Sittwe 

Almost 10 months since the military seized power in a February 1 coup, bank users and businesses in Arakan State continue to struggle with limited or nonexistent cash withdrawals and other banking services, as is the case in much of Myanmar. 

“I used to be able to withdraw between K200,000 and K300,000 a week from ATMs in the past, but now bank employees do not stock money at ATMs in Sittwe,” said Ko Aye Naing, a construction materials dealer in the Arakan State capital. “Previously, my employees were paid with ATM cards, but now I have to pay their salaries in cash. ATM cards are not convenient for withdrawing money.” 

ATM cardholders have had better luck switching to payment applications, but must pay a percentage fee for the services, according to a Sittwe resident. 

“If people want to withdraw money from KBZ and CB Bank, they have to use payment applications like KBZPay and CBPay. But they pay a percentage of the service fee to withdraw cash from the agents,” he explained. “These ATM cards are in your hands and cannot be used at all because you cannot withdraw from the ATMs.” 

Ko Aye Naing, the construction materials dealer, said he has been trying unsuccessfully to withdraw money from the bank for about a month. 

“The Myanma Economic Bank in Sittwe has not disbursed money for about a month. Bank employees say they are struggling to pay even government employees. The same goes for people withdrawing money from other private banks,” he added. 

Businesspeople warn that if people continue to have difficulty withdrawing money from banks, commerce and basic economic transactions will be increasingly hobbled. 

A DMG reporter visited multiple banks in the Arakan State capital Sittwe to inquire about how banks are disbursing money and to ask whether any efforts were being made to better stock ATMs with cash, but bank officials said they were only following instructions from the Central Bank of Myanmar. 

U Win Thaw, deputy governor of the Central Bank, told media in September that people would continue to face problems withdrawing money at banks and ATMs amid a shortage of cash, adding that restricting ATM withdrawals was in depositors’ best interests at troubled banks.