US firm MasterCard Inc has reached an agreement with Burma’s Co-operative Bank to issue the first plastic credit cards in the country. The cards should be available within the next few months, the firm said, and will be accepted by Co-operative Bank ATMs and by retailers in the country as payment cards. MasterCard is the first of the big international issuers to venture into Burma. However, its cards issued abroad will not immediately be acceptable there. Co-operative Bank has the largest ATM network in the country—though with just 24 machines out of an estimated 82 nationwide.