branchless banking deposits have grown to rs 503 million. the average size of branchless banking transactions is rs 3, 855 ( us $ 43 ) which shows that mobile phone technology and agentbased banking are helping access to financial services by the hitherto unbanked poor. early uptake of mobile banking is also beset with challenges. the existing agents network needs to be further capacitated to generate new demand ; handle and service even larger volumes of transactions to establish the business viability of bb operations. going forward, sbp will be initiating actionable research on the supply and demand side in collaboration with the branchless banking ecosystem for further development of such services in pakistan. the study will focus on opportunities such as : bis central bankers ’ speeches i. estimation and development of a retail payments system strategy : the initial bb business is based on handling large volumes of transactions. therefore payments services such as bulk g2p, b2b, b2p payments and retail p2p payments are a necessity for survival in its infancy phase. identification and preparation of a matrix of these payments will be helpful in highlighting the volumes in payments services and opportunities for future development and partnerships for establishing the business case / viability and promotion of branchless banking in pakistan. ii. research into agents ’ economics and business case and identification of key bottlenecks including public policy issues such as taxation of bb services etc. iii. research into agents ’ selection and management for identification of challenges, particularly in the management of liquidity at agents ’ outlets, quality of service for maintaining minimum service standards, security systems & controls for fraud prevention and detection, complaint handling and redress mechanism, and agent disqualification and delisting mechanism etc. interventions will be launched to enhance the agent ’ s credibility. iv. research on bb technologies : there is a need for understanding of bb technologies for adoption of common standards and platforms for promotion of financial inclusion on a massive scale. therefore, a study on bb technologies would be conducted for understanding existing technologies along with development of some common standards. these will also be helpful in getting one step nearer to the interoperability of the technological solutions and agent networks. v. likewise demand side field research into the experience of current users and nonusers of branchless banking will be conducted. the survey would help in identification and understanding the top financing needs of the low income clients and help bb providers tailor their products to satisfy the unmet demand for such services. similarly the survey will also

role by encouraging its regulatees to play their due part in the provision of smooth and efficient branchless banking services. for banking and telecom industries, it should be a matter of great comfort and satisfaction that their regulators i. e. sbp and pta share the vision and are working in tandem to provide an enabling regulatory environment for the provision of mobile banking services. this cooperation between the regulators ; will create much desired synergy in both the banking as well as telecom industries. going forward, much still needs to be done. sbp is keen to work with different stakeholders, including but not limited to financial institutions, different regulators, private sector, application developers and telcos to provide an enabling environment for the creation of mobile commerce ecosystem in the country. we have only seen the start of it but the rest is yet to come. however, the common challenge is to ensure that all banking transactions, irrespective of the technology platform, are cost effective, efficient, and pose a lowest risk for the consumers. this requires close coordination among the stakeholders in the area of regulations especially monitoring, licensing, provision of technological infrastructure and ensuring maximum benefits for consumers. i trust today ’ s conference will help us understand the issues relating to mobile commerce and the importance of mobile banking in the development of an inclusive mobile commerce ecosystem. this conference will help to increase the general awareness among participants about mobile commerce and the evolving trends in mobile banking for which total communications deserves to be applauded. thank you all for being part of this forum and i look forward to your productive participation in today ’ s event. bis central bankers ’ speeches