caleb m fundanga : bringing new levels of efficiency to the zambian banking sector through technological innovation speech by dr caleb m fundanga, governor of the bank of zambia, at the launch of the zanaco bill muster, lusaka, 27 june 2006. * * * • managing director – zambia national commercial bank plc • senior management staff from zanaco present • members of the press • invited guests • ladies and gentlemen it is my honour and privilege to be invited to officiate at this breakfast press briefing on the launch of the zanaco bill muster product. i am informed that the zanaco bill muster is zanaco ’ s latest product innovation. the product will enable the bank ’ s customers to pay their utility bills at any zanaco branch and utility companies will receive their collection details electronically online in real time. i am further informed that the new product will make it possible for the bank ’ s customers to pay for their utility bills by filling in a form instructing the bank through internet banking. the product we are launching today is indeed a positive development as it should bring new levels of efficiency to the banking sector and set a precedence for other players on the market to emulate. at bank of zambia, we sincerely support this type of innovation, especially if such a product helps in reducing the cumbersome use of paper and tedious work of manual transmission of payment instructions. ladies and gentlemen, you will agree with me that automation of processes brings in some efficiency which should translate into effective utilisation of resources. instead of spending time processing bulk payments, employees will have time to concentrate on other more important assignments, such as deposit mobilisation, credit portfolio growth and administration, all of which are important for the wellbeing of an institution in terms of profits, enhanced shareholder value and growth of the economy at large. the world is changing in terms of technological advancement and new methods of doing business are being developed every day. as a country and through innovations like the product we are launching today, we need to constantly keep up with these developments. ladies and gentlemen, as you are aware the government continues to give tax and other incentives for institutions and individuals importing computers and computer parts. this is deliberate. it is aimed at stimulating economic growth and as such we all have no excuse for not taking advantage of this development. we expect all commercial banks in zambia to take full advantage of this for the benefit of the zambian people through improved service delivery. in this

the driving force behind open banking. this trend benefits both relatively small players ( fintechs ) and technology giants whose business model is based on the monetisation of data ( gafams and batx, whose entry into the european market is more recent ). these changes are the natural result of a process of creative iteration, and promise to simplify practices by diversifying them. nevertheless, they have significant consequences for the structure of markets, with a substantial impact on our ability to impose and control our public policy choices regarding financial services, in particular in terms of legal, technological and operational certainty. for instance, which law is applicable, when the provision of services involves players established in different jurisdictions with sometimes contradictory legal requirements? the united states in particular is characterised by a broad definition of extraterritoriality. besides the identification of the legal framework, there is also the question of the ability of a judicial authority to enforce the law, given the size of financial groups, the large number of 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches intermediaries, or the location of their various activities. the digitisation of financial services also introduces a new form of dependence on physical ( mobile phones and connected objects ) as well as digital ( search engines, mobile applications ) entry points and on the non - european technology companies that control and dominate them. yet, competition law, created in the 19th century in a period when the state took a stand on monopolies, is proving to be ill - equipped to deal with these technology companies. lastly, the dematerialisation of activities, by increasing the number of interconnections and system entry points, makes them more vulnerable to potential “ cyber - attacks ” and to their use for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes, and makes them more dependent, to counter this, on non - european players who also operate outside the regulated financial sectors. b - in the area of payments, digitisation is likely to have additional consequences, which also pose major challenges in terms of sovereignty. here, i would like to highlight two that deserve special attention : the first is the development of new types of settlement assets. the operation of our payment systems currently relies heavily on the largely complementary use of two types of settlement asset that can be exchanged at any time at par : central bank money, the only legal tender settlement asset, which is the money for the settlement of transactions between financial intermediaries, and commercial bank money, which is generally preferred for the settlement of retail transactions