Myanmar has introduced a new clearing and settlement system as part of the modernization of the country’s banking system. The system, built with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has already gone live. Called CBM-Net, it provides the country’s financial sector with a real time gross settlement system (RTGS). Payments in Myanmar are largely cash-based and transfers between individuals often required the physical movement of cash between branches of the same bank and the branches of different lenders. The cheque clearing system too was time-consuming.
