Policing Mobile Money: Digital Financial Repression in Post-Coup Myanmar

In post-coup Myanmar, mobile money has become both essential and dangerous. As mobile wallets and online banking grow more central to daily life, the military regime has expanded efforts to monitor transactions and seize funds tied to resistance activity.

This study examines how mobile money systems have become tools of state surveillance—marking a shift from traditional repression to digital financial control. It explores how the junta collaborates with banks and telecom companies to tighten this grip, advancing what the report calls techno-authoritarianism.

The research also considers how encryption tools, social media, and decentralized infrastructure offer pathways to resist financial repression. Despite challenges in accessing frontline voices due to safety risks, the study offers critical insight into the digital battleground between control and freedom in Myanmar’s financial system.

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This study is part of the Myanmar Digital Research series published by Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) with support from International Development Research Centre and The SecDev Foundation.