radovan jelasic : serbia ’ s individuals and institutions – adapting to become transition winners speech by mr radovan jelasic, governor of the national bank of serbia, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of cacanska banka, cacat, 23 september 2006. * * * today, cacanska banka celebrates its 50th anniversary. it does so in the ever - changing climate of transition, in which each citizen of serbia is faced with a range of vital questions – transition to where, in what manner and at what pace? and whereas all of us understand transition in our own way, i for one believe that transition means entering a new system of economic, social and moral values, and that only those who understand what the new times bring, and who manage to adapt quickly, will at least avoid being transition losers, if they do not become transition winners – and this holds true for both individuals and institutions. it is enough to look into the share of state, social and private capital in the portfolio of your bank to understand how far - reaching and inevitable these changes have been. another significant change is that membership in the board of directors of this bank is no longer motivated by the wish to obtain credit under preferential terms, but by a wish to see the institution ’ s profits and value of its shares go up. not to mention risk management, credit approval procedures, internal controls, etc. although this was scarcely noticed, let alone appreciated, by most of the public, the restructuring of the banking system brought about a change in many aspects of our relationship with banks : for instance, instead of having to telephone the bank several times a day in order to check our account balance, we now get an account statement via our cell phones ; instead of complaining of short supply of credits, we now complain that “ credits are too expensive ”. we also have a stable currency, and although foreigners still place more trust in it than some of our own citizens, i am certain that this too will change in due course. of course, in order for any change to happen, there must be people who know what they can and cannot do alone, and who ask for help in order to be able to tackle the challenges ahead. this is how the european bank for reconstruction and development acquired a stake in cacanska banka. if there is one thing i appreciate in serbia, it is when people ask for help, when they admit they cannot carry on on their own. this is

a good example of how digital public infrastructure can be leveraged for achieving public policy objectives. ( iii ) mobile connectivity 8. the spread of mobile connectivity has also played a major role in the digitization of financial services in india. the number of internet users through mobile phone in india has grown from about 70 million in 2014 5 to about 800 million in 2022 6. during the same period, the number of digital transactions in india grew from about 1. 2 billion in 20147 to about 91 billion in 20228. increasing affordability of mobile phones, cheap access to data and the expansion of mobile network coverage have spurred the growth in adoption of mobile wallets, upi, and other digital payment methods. ( iv ) unified payments interface ( upi ) 9. the upi has played a phenomenal role in the fintech revolution in india. its success story has in fact become an international model. its ability to instantly transfer money between bank accounts through mobile applications has transformed the way people make digital transactions. the interoperability of upi across banks has created a unified payment ecosystem. its user - friendly interface and qr codebased payments have made it very popular. it has facilitated digital payments for small businesses and street vendors, leading to greater financial inclusion. 10. upi has also spurred innovation in the fintech space, leading to the growth and development of other payment systems. for instance, the volume of transactions through bharat bill payment system ( bbps ) increased phenomenally after upi - based platforms started providing such facilities. prepaid payment instruments / mobile wallets have also https : / / www. trai. gov. in / release - publication / reports / telecom - subscriptions - reports https : / / www. trai. gov. in / release - publication / reports / telecom - subscriptions - reports https : / / pib. gov. in / newsite / printrelease. aspx? relid = 184668 https : / / pib. gov. in / pressreleaseiframepage. aspx? prid = 1897272 witnessed higher volumes when mobile wallets were made interoperable through upi. the success of upi is reflected in the sheer numbers, as it has scaled up in relatively a short period of time. more than 10 billion transactions for over rs. 15 trillion value were carried out in august 2023. this number is steadily rising 9. india ’ s technology