The problem of which decisions belong to the government sphere as opposed to markets is not confined to the nation state. At the international level there are also differences of opinion as to what should be left to individuals and nations to decide instead of being settled in joint political assemblies. The global level lacks overriding democratic structures that could help to establish common rules that are broadly supported. In the debate on the globalisation process there are also many who consider that the global market is not sufficiently ‘democratic’ and that ‘the struggle is about securing the shared values that transcend economism’. Another criticism is that the poor countries have too little say in the global markets. So what do we mean by ‘globalisation’? Pope John Paul has said that “globalisation is something that is present in every aspect of our lives”. Others see globalisation as the emergence of a common global culture, perhaps at the expense of national and local cultures. One is inclined to agree with His Holiness — globalisation is not a straightforward phenomenon that is easily explained. I would say that globalisation stands for the growing interdependence of individuals and countries that is resulting from the increasingly comprehensive exchange of everything from goods, services and capital to ideas and know-how. Defined like that, globalisation is not something anyone would want to abolish but a fundamentally positive process that contributes to an increasingly prosperous world, as well as to the democratisation of a great many countries.

More than 20 global FIs have set up innovation centres here. You would have seen during the Innovation Lab Crawl earlier this week some of the exciting things they are experimenting with: digital health solutions tapping on wearable devices; telematics for motor insurance; blockchains to streamline payments; big data to produce customised service offerings. MAS itself has set up an innovation lab – called Looking Glass. It aims to: spur collaboration among MAS, FIs, start-ups, and technologists; and facilitate consultations for start-ups by industry experts on legal, regulatory, and businessrelated matters. Infrastructure for Electronic Payments: UPOS, CAS We have a world-class infrastructure for electronic payments. It is a 24/7, real-time inter-bank fund transfer system. We call it FAST; short for Fast and Secure Transfers. But FAST is grossly under-utilised and Singapore is still heavily dependent on cash and cheques as means of payments. The Association of Banks in Singapore is working on two key initiatives to make electronic payments seamless and convenient for everyone. First, a Central Addressing Scheme (CAS) that will allow you to pay anyone using that person’s mobile number, national ID number, email address, or any other social media address, without the need to know the recipient’s bank or bank account number. Second, a Unified Point-of-Sale (UPOS) terminal that will allow a merchant to accept all major card brands, including those that are contactless or embedded in smartphones. A National KYC Utility Knowing the identity of a customer – or KYC – is one of the biggest pain points in the financial industry.