We do not need to suffer the agony of remembering our account numbers ever again. The RPP will be facilitated by a National Addressing Database (NAD) and an interoperable QR code payment scheme. Seamless and secure payments between bank and non-bank e-money accounts will also become a reality. Given the overwhelming benefits from this initiative, it is incumbent on all of us to drive the promotion of RPP, such as in facilitating user registration with the NAD and merchant adoption of the common QR code. Let us make the RPP services a household service and transform all mobile phones into mobile wallets. The RPP should not be merely a banking service, but a lifestyle solution. The industry ought to build upon the RPP and enhance its research and development capabilities. One such area is through the publication of Open Application Programming Interfaces (or better known as Open APIs). Based on our interaction with the banking community, there is interest for this among our banks. The Bank’s survey last year indicated that more than 50% of banks in Malaysia view Open API as a high priority. Thus, the industry should leverage on Open API to facilitate collaboration with fintech firms to introduce innovations and facilitate new use cases to enhance the RPP’s value proposition to businesses and consumers. Notably, the RPP can offer a treasure trove of data. This can be mined to develop more tailored payment solutions, fraud detection capabilities, and to support potential strategic partnerships with financial or non-financial players.

Philipp M Hildebrand: Open world - Switzerland open to the world Summary of a speech by Dr Philipp M Hildebrand, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Swiss Economic Forum, Thun, 7 May 2004. The complete speech can be found in German on the Swiss National Bank’s website (www.snb.ch). *  *  *  Globalisation - the worldwide exchange of production factors, goods, technologies and ideas - is a process that has evolved in different ways and degrees ever since humankind can remember. Technological progress is the actual driving force behind globalisation. It thus becomes possible to reduce costs through increasing specialisation and the best use of comparative advantages. The process of globalisation, however, is restricted to some extent by national and international legal frameworks. Despite overall positive and widespread net effects, globalisation is, however, frequently not accepted due to adjustment costs arising for certain global players. With its successful export sector and its comparatively attractive local conditions, particularly the excellent infrastructure and the flexible labour market, Switzerland has the potential to benefit from the continuing globalisation in future as well. A necessary condition for this, however, is a rise in productivity and, as a result, enhanced competitiveness of the domestic sector. With international competitive pressure intensifying, insulating itself or merely adhering to the status quo are no options for Switzerland in the long term. This would lead to considerable losses in social security and growth and threaten the long-term survival of the country’s social institutions.