More often than not, small changes lead to major breakthroughs, if approached with an open mind and shared interests between providers and policymakers to genuinely serve the best interests of the unserved segments of society. In Malaysia, the agent banking initiative was an experiment in policymaking and regulation that has proved to be highly successful in both protecting the integrity of financial transactions, while significantly increasing financial inclusion. The agent banking initiative leveraged on existing high-volume touch points such as sundry shops, petrol stations and post offices to reach the rural population and perform basic banking transactions on behalf of financial institutions. The technology involved was hardly state-of-the-art, relying on POS terminals with real time connectivity, to back-end system of banks as well biometric identification, to meet the KnowYour-Customer requirements. Yet, it has enabled 99% of Malaysians, particularly those in rural areas, to conveniently access financial services, while saving up to 80% of costs in building brick-and-mortar bank branches. In February 2016, Bank Negara Malaysia also facilitated the implementation of the Investment Account Platform (IAP) which expands opportunities for retail and institutional investors to finance viable SME ventures more efficiently in a Syariah-compliant manner. Again, this was only possible because of technology. Conclusion This symposium is the inaugural gathering of public sector regulators, private sector innovators and funders that is specifically focused on how financial innovation can support financial inclusion.

Only then, can financial institutions expect to support the low income and vulnerable segments of our communities as long-term partners to create opportunities that will improve lives. A clear picture of policymakers’ role in promoting an enabling environment for financial innovation and technology Finally, policymakers can play a meaningful role to promote an enabling environment for innovation to support financial inclusion initiatives. I shall focus on three areas. First, regulation should aim to be technology-neutral and outcome-focused, proportionate to risks and harmonized across sectors. A technology-neutral approach allows policymakers to assess the merits of innovations based on the outcomes, without fear or favour for the underlying technology. Regulation should be proportionate to the risks that products or institutions present to the broader financial system. This requires continued efforts to strengthen the capacity among national regulators and supervisors to assess the benefits and cost of regulation. Only then can we really move from proportionality as a concept to practice. Regulation between different sectors should also be harmonised to focus on activities that should be regulated, rather than the institutions conducting such activities. For example, if an e-commerce platform collects, pays interest on and mobilises deposits, a banking license may be necessary as public interest is involved. Second, communicating clear expectations to the market while incorporating feedbacks through engagements with the private sector is important.