"In a survey by Visa, around 64 percent of consumers in Southeast Asia are confident of going cashless for a full day, highlighting the region’s strong drive towards digital payments. Moreover, the 2019 World Payments Report shows that the value of non-cash transactions in Asia is projected to grow from US$96.2 billion in 2017 to US$352.8 billion by 2022, a meteoric rise of over 266 percent. Contactless payments allow people to make payments by tapping their payment cards or phones on point of sales (POS) terminals instead of swiping or inserting their cards. QR (quick response) codes are two-dimensional bar codes which can carry purchase transaction information – allowing merchants to receive payments from customers when scanned. Surveying 504 people in Myanmar across Yangon, Pathein, Mandalay and Magway in September 2018, Visa found that up to 60 percent of consumers use cashless payments to settle payments in hypermarkets and supermarkets. Nevertheless, awareness of cashless payment systems in Myanmar is still rather low compared to other ASEAN member states. Obstacles There are several challenges in getting Myanmar to go cashless. Digital payment solutions rely on electricity and the internet, and the lack of reliable electricity supply in rural areas is probably the biggest obstacle in converting people from cash to digital. Another problem in Myanmar is a lack of training around such technology. “Even in Yangon and Mandalay, where people are familiar with technology, some employees do not know how to accept payments by phone or card and sometimes ask for cash instead because the internet is down,” Nyein Chan Soe Win, CEO and co-founder of e-commerce and ride hailing platform Get Myanmar told local media. Although the Ministry of Transport and Communications revealed that there were over 56.8 million mobile subscribers in the country during the fiscal year 2017-2018, relatively few people have bank accounts in Myanmar. Payment consultants Mercator Advisory Group estimates that 74 percent of Myanmar’s citizens do not have a bank account and only five percent have debit cards – making it hard to develop an e-payment system based on mobile phones..."