This digital acceleration grant will help smaller financial institutions and FinTechs adopt digital solutions to strengthen their operational resilience during this period, improve their process efficiency, risk management, and customer service. The take-up has been very encouraging. More than 120 applications have come in. The first batch of applicants have already gotten their grants. New Opportunities What does the future look like for financial services, post-Covid? It is an important question that we are quite focused on at MAS. A lot has been written about how the post-Covid world might look like. I think it is a bit too early to tell, but some broad trends are discernible. First, the financial sector needs to be able to operate effectively with safe management. It is going to take quite a while before we find a vaccine or treatment for Covid-19. This means the virus is going to be with us for a while and, with it, the risk of renewed outbreaks of infections. 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  So, the financial industry must prepare itself to operate in a safe manner, amid the ongoing risk of pandemic. This could include changes in office layouts, the way transactions are carried out, everything we do has to take into account public health considerations. Second, and an obvious one, is digitalisation. There has been more digitalisation in the last two months than people had expected to see over the next five years. This acceleration is going to be with us.

The financial inclusion mandate of the Bank is further reinforced by The Financial Sector Blueprint 2011–2020, which charts the future development of the Malaysian financial system. It details the Bank’s holistic approach toward achieving greater financial inclusion. An important evolution in the advancement of our financial inclusion strategies is the increasing focus on data and measurement. Success can only be celebrated if it is proven by visible developments that is felt on the ground. Hence, one of the cornerstone recommendations under the Financial Sector Blueprint is the development of a Financial Inclusion Index, a framework to measure accessibility to financial services as well as its  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  usage and quality. Our performance on this agenda has therefore been measured, consistent with our drive for accountability and excellence. Further policy initiatives have included the introduction of agent banking which has enabled 99% of Malaysians today to enjoy convenient access to safe, reliable and affordable financial services. International efforts to enhance financial inclusion measurement Internationally, there is an emerging common understanding that measurement is an essential policy tool for implementation. In this regard, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, a network of central banks and financial regulators from 96 countries, has provided an important platform in advancing the global agenda of financial inclusion measurement. With the Sasana Accord, which was agreed upon in 2013 during the Global Policy Forum held here in Sasana Kijang, AFI members underscored the importance of measuring the progress of financial inclusion using a common set of measurable indicators.