[THE INVESTOR] KB Kookmin Card said on Sept. 21 that it is pushing to launch operations in Myanmar after getting the nod to set up an office in the Southeast Asian country.

KB Kookmin Card, a unit of Korea’s banking giant KB Financial Group, said it won approval from Myanmar’s central bank to establish a representative office there.

The card issuer said it plans to take a systematic approach since Myanmar has yet to open its credit card and payment market to foreign companies.

Under the plan, KB Kookmin Card will open a representative office in Yangon next month and turn it into a financial corporation that can provide installment finance, credit card and other financial services.

The envisioned entity will first start auto and other consumer finance, expand into the credit loan business based on a localized credit assessment model and seek to enter Myanmar’s credit card market over the long haul, it said.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)