# Wave Money (WavePay)

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/wave-money
> research date 2026-05-29 · extracted at 2026-10-03
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [Wave Money — official](https://www.wavemoney.com.mm/)

## Overview

**Wave Money (WavePay)** is **Myanmar's mobile financial services pioneer**, operated by **Digital Money Myanmar Limited** <sup>[1][1], [2][2], [Myanmar report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/MM)</sup>. **Founded 2016** as joint venture between **Yoma Bank + Telenor Group** (Telenor exited Jan 2022). Wave Money has **210,000+ business partners + ~60,000 agent outlets nationwide + 1.1+ million WavePay monthly active users** by 2025.

**January 2022 — Telenor exit**: Telenor Group agreed to sell its **51% stake in Wave Money for $53 million** to **Yoma Strategic Holdings** — strategic withdrawal as Telenor exited Myanmar amid 2021 coup.

**2025 — 2C2P WAVE wallet launch** <sup>[3][3]</sup>: Wave Money partnered with 2C2P for the "2C2P WAVE" wallet app — facilitating fast + secure remittances for **~1.2 million Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand**.

## History

**2016 — Wave Money launches** <sup>[2][2]</sup>: JV between Yoma Bank + Telenor Group.

**2018 — Telenor 51% majority stake**.

**January 2022 — Telenor exits Wave Money** <sup>[4][4]</sup>: Yoma Strategic Holdings buys Telenor's 51% for $53M.

**2022-2024 — Yoma Strategic + Yoma Bank-led expansion** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: 210K+ business partners + 60K agents + 1.1M WavePay MAU.

**2025 — 2C2P WAVE Thailand-migrant wallet** <sup>[3][3]</sup>.

## Ownership & operator

**Operating entity**: **Digital Money Myanmar Limited** (Wave Money operator).

**Current owners**: **Yoma Strategic Holdings + Yoma Bank** (Yoma Group).

**Historical**: **Telenor Group held 51%** until January 2022 exit ($53M sale to Yoma Strategic).

**Regulator**: **Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM)**.

## Technical integration

| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| **Channels** | WavePay mobile app + agent network + 2C2P WAVE (TH migrant remittance, 2025+) |
| **Identifiers** | Phone |
| **Agent outlets** | ~60,000 nationwide (entire Myanmar coverage) |
| **Business partners** | 210,000+ (utilities + bill payments + e-commerce checkout) |
| **Yoma Bank integration** | WavePay + Yoma Bank SMART Account fund transfer integration |
| **Thailand migrant** | 2C2P WAVE wallet for ~1.2M Myanmar migrant workers in TH (2025+) |
| **Account model** | Mobile-money-style (no bank account required) |

## Users & growth

**2025 baseline** <sup>[1][1]</sup>:
- **WavePay MAU**: 1.1+ million
- **Agent outlets**: ~60,000
- **Business partners**: 210,000+
- **Nationwide coverage**: Entire Myanmar
- **TH-migrant remittance**: ~1.2 million Myanmar workers in Thailand (2C2P WAVE)

## Use cases

P2P transfers + cash-in/cash-out via 60K agent network; bill payments (utilities); e-commerce checkout (210K+ business partners); Yoma Bank SMART Account integration; cross-border remittances Thailand → Myanmar via 2C2P WAVE (2025+).

## Implementations & partners

**Operator**: **Digital Money Myanmar Limited** (Wave Money).

**Owners**: **Yoma Strategic Holdings + Yoma Bank** (Yoma Group).

**Banking partner**: **Yoma Bank** (WavePay-Yoma SMART Account fund transfers).

**Cross-border remittance partner (2025+)**: **2C2P** (2C2P WAVE wallet for TH-Myanmar migrants).

**Major Myanmar competitors**: **[KBZPay](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/kbzpay)** (KBZ Bank; 19M+ users, 43% adult-population penetration — Myanmar's largest mobile wallet by far), **OnePay** (Myanmar), **MPU** (Myanmar Payment Union national rails).

**Regulator**: **Central Bank of Myanmar**.

## Fun facts

- **2016 launch by Yoma Bank + Telenor JV**.
- **January 2022 Telenor exit** — Yoma Strategic buys 51% for $53M amid Telenor Myanmar exit.
- **60,000 agent outlets nationwide** — largest Myanmar agent network.
- **1.1M+ WavePay MAU + 210K+ business partners**.
- **2025 2C2P WAVE wallet** for 1.2M Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand — distinctive migrant-remittance positioning.
- **Yoma Bank SMART Account integration**.

## Comparison

| Feature | Wave Money | [KBZPay](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/kbzpay) (MM rival) | [GCash](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/gcash) (PH analogous mobile-money) | [M-Pesa](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/m-pesa) (KE analogous mobile-money) | [TrueMoney](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/truemoney) (TH analogous cross-border) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | **Digital Money Myanmar Limited (Yoma Strategic + Yoma Bank)** | KBZPay (KBZ Bank) | GCash (Globe + Ant Group + 667 Partners) | Safaricom + Vodacom | TrueMoney (CP Group + Ascend Money) |
| Type | **MM mobile financial services + cross-border TH-migrant** | MM #1 mobile wallet by KBZ Bank | PH mobile wallet → bank | KE mobile-money pioneer | TH mobile wallet + SEA cross-border |
| Country | Myanmar | Myanmar | Philippines | Kenya + East Africa | 6 SE Asian |
| Users | **1.1M MAU + 60K agents + 210K partners** | 19M (43% adult penetration) | 81M+ | 51M | 27M+ TH |
| Cross-border | **2C2P WAVE TH-migrant (2025+)** | n/a | Visa Direct + multiple | M-Pesa Global | SEA-wide |

## Status

**Active, Myanmar mobile-money pioneer** <sup>[1][1], [3][3]</sup>:
- **Wave Money (Digital Money Myanmar Limited)** since 2016.
- **Yoma Strategic + Yoma Bank-owned** (post-Telenor-exit Jan 2022).
- **1.1M+ WavePay MAU + 60K agents + 210K business partners**.
- **2025 2C2P WAVE TH-migrant remittance wallet** (~1.2M Myanmar workers in TH).
- **CBM-regulated**.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.wavemoney.com.mm/about-us/ "Wave Money — official"
[2]: https://grokipedia.com/page/Wave_Money "Wave Money — Grokipedia"
[3]: https://en.prnasia.com/releases/apac/wave-money-sets-record-breaking-1-1-million-monthly-active-users-of-wavepay-296739.shtml "WavePay 1.1M MAU record — PR Newswire"
[4]: https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/yoma-wave-money-193921 "Yoma + Telenor $53M Wave Money — DealStreetAsia"
[mm-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/MM

- [1] [Wave Money — official][1]
- [2] [Wave Money — Grokipedia][2]
- [3] [WavePay 1.1M MAU record — PR Newswire][3]
- [4] [Yoma + Telenor $53M Wave Money — DealStreetAsia][4]
- <sup>[Myanmar report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/MM)</sup> In-corpus: `reports/countries/MM-myanmar.md`

## Source

Biography extracted from [wave-money.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/wave-money). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.