In this regard, with the advancement and the willingness of the general public to experiment with new technology, the electronic payment system possesses distinct advantages over the traditional paper-based payment system. While the unbanked and the underbanked may have limited access to financial services due to geographical limitations and cost considerations, the usage of e-payments by the underserved via mobile technology could help transcend these obstacles by delivering financial services efficiently, securely and at a lower cost compared to the traditional brick and mortar branches. Accelerating the migration to e-payments remains a primary agenda for the country. In carrying our mandate to foster a safe, efficient and reliable payment system in Malaysia, a clear roadmap has been formulated to drive the country’s migration to e-payments. As provided in the Central Bank’s Financial Sector Blueprint (2011 to 2020), specific targets have been set to reduce the number of cheques processed per annum from 207 million in 2010 to 100 million by 2020 and to increase the number of point-of-sale (POS) terminals from 7 per thousand inhabitants in 2010 to 25 per thousand inhabitants by 2020. At the same time, targets are also set to increase the per capita e-payment transactions from 43 in 2010 to 200 by 2020 and the per capita debit card transactions from 0.6 in 2010 to 30 by 2020. Continuous infrastructure investments in this country have provided the enabling infrastructure which can be leveraged to serve the needs of the unbanked and the underbanked.

The establishment of this new body in charge of macro-prudential oversight is expected to bring significant improvements to the EU institutional framework for financial stability. The participation of the European Supervisory Authorities (with voting rights) and all the EU national supervisory authorities (without voting rights) will allow enhancing the capacity of the ESRB to identify systemic risks and to define areas for recommendations for policy action. Indeed, it is expected that the recommendations of the ESRB would primarily concern the supervisory and regulatory field. It is important to note that macro-prudential oversight should not be regarded as a substitute for the responsibilities of other authorities, namely supervisors. It should instead facilitate and complement where required the conduct of micro-prudential supervision by the competent authorities. The effectiveness of the ESRB warnings and recommendations will rely on their quality, the act or explain mechanism between the ESRB and the addressees, the possibility of the ESRB to publish its warnings and recommendations, and also the possible role of the  4  BIS Review 125/2010  Council of Ministers and the European Supervisory Authorities in supporting the implementation of the warnings and recommendations. The combination of these elements should provide an adequate framework of incentives and mechanisms, which will greatly benefit the compliance with risk warnings and recommendations. In this context, it has been considered not necessary to provide a legallybinding nature to the ESRB risk warnings and recommendations, as this would lead to a certain overlap of responsibilities and tasks, particularly with micro-prudential supervisors.