Some banks are positioning themselves as partners with their customers on their life journey, integrating their financial and non-financial needs. DBS Bank in Singapore provides its customers looking to buy a car an online portal that enables them to calculate their budget, find an affordable car, connect with the seller, get a car loan, and finally purchase a car insurance. Third, banks are using technology to provide seamless solutions. bottlenecks and providing customers with a frictionless experience. This means resolving  This means using technology to resolve bottlenecks in processes to provide customers with a frictionless experience. Banks such as BBVA, Mitsubishi UFJ, and BNP Paribas are using blockchain technology for syndicated loans. It improves efficiency. Each step of the loan process, from credit underwriting to credit administration, is documented in the distributed ledger, thereby eliminating the need for duplicative back office processing. The loan process is shortened from about two weeks to two days. It also improves trust. Every record in the distributed ledger has a user code and time stamp. This creates an audit trail, leading to higher level of trust among the participants. Let me share two initiatives from the Singapore financial sector, which show that achieving a seamless customer experience often requires collaboration across institutions a n d interoperability across systems. The two key ingredients for a digital transaction are identity authentication and secure payments. The Singapore government worked closely with the industry to make the customer experience seamless in these two areas. First, seamless identity authentication through MyInfo.

Petroleum investment,  3  Svensson, L.E.O. (2005): “Further developments of inflation targeting”. Memo to Sveriges Riksbank’s conference: “Inflation targeting: implementation, communication and effectiveness”10 – 12. June 2005. 4  BIS Review 80/2006  favourable prices in important export markets and a strong upturn in the world economy have also contributed to solid growth in the Norwegian economy. So far in the cyclical upturn, the mainland economy has grown by an average of close to 4 per cent annually. Although the underlying rise in consumer prices has picked up from its trough two years ago, it remains moderate and well below the inflation target, even three years into this cyclical upturn. The global economy is now in the strongest upturn since the early 1970s. Developments are particularly favourable in Asia, and the situation in a number of countries in Europe appears to be improving. Growth in the US has been high for a long period, but has declined somewhat so far this year. There are prospects that a weaker US housing market may lead to increased household saving and lower consumer demand. The effect of these developments on the global economy will depend on the scale and timing of the correction. International equity markets have stabilised following a turbulent period in May and have edged up through the summer. Norges Bank’s assessment is that global growth will abate somewhat from 2006 to 2007, but will remain solid. However, many observers have pointed out that the risk of weaker developments may have increased somewhat recently.