Asia Starmar Transport Intelligent Co. Ltd. has officially launched its prepaid card service for its 597 buses in Yangon this week. The company said that more than 9,100 payment cards for use on Yangon Bus Service buses were sold in five days since July 16, and were due to go into use on some routes on July 21.

“The launch of YPS card system is a new historic milestone and an onset of a long journey, helping the cashless ecosystem of the country. The company will also introduce other prepaid card services.” said CEO Ms Grace Li.

Asia Starmar was established in 2017 and provides platform solutions and services to city buses, school buses and long-distance coach buses in Myanmar. In 2018, it was granted the exclusive construction and operation rights of the YPS (Yangon Payment Services) project in Yangon.

The move comes in the midst of a push from the government to encourage digital ecosystem development as part of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan, or CERP.