NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

After Covid-19 arrived in Myanmar, fintech solutions quickly proved to be effective in encouraging social distancing and limiting community transmission.

Where possible, one-off payments of MMK30,000 ($22.78) to vulnerable households under the government’s Covid-19 Economic Relief Plan were distributed through local digital platforms such as Wave Money and OnePay.

Digital transfer options were also extended to social security payments, loans for farmers, emergency funds for garment workers and financial relief for street vendors.

Photo courtesy of Stanislav Kondratiev.