to enhance sme access to financing. indeed, for access to financing, several key strategies and measures have already been implemented to ensure that smes, at different stages of the business life cycle, have adequate access to financing. the banking system continues to be the most significant source of financing in the economy. an important strategy to ensure access to financing by the smes has therefore been to increase access to financing from the banking institutions. attention therefore was given for banking institutions to accord a special focus on providing financial services to smes, in particular in strengthening their facilities, outreach and services to smes. today, all commercial banks have dedicated sme divisions and bumiputera development units that are responsible for providing lending as well as ancillary support and advisory services to the smes. the commercial banks also have a specific client charter for smes, providing the necessary information to facilitate smes in applying for financing. the strategy to provide increased access to financing is also reinforced by the provision of information and financial advisory services to smes. in 2005, bank negara malaysia established laman informasi, nasihat dan khidmat ( or the link ), as a one - stop centre for smes to obtain information and raise matters on access to financing directly with bank negara malaysia. the link has dedicated staff that provides financial advisory services including for dealing with problems of obtaining financing and for restructuring of existing loans. to date, about 11, 000 smes have sought assistance from the link. another important initiative in disseminating information to the smes is the establishment of the smeinfo portal, an information gateway for smes. the portal provides comprehensive information required by smes, including details on the government's financial and non - financial assistance, financing products for smes by the financial sector, training programmes as well as advise on how to start and manage a business. the portal also provides a platform for smes to advertise their products and services. to date, more than 14, 000 smes have registered in the sme business directory of the portal. in strengthening the financial infrastructure for smes, bank negara malaysia has also established the small debt resolution scheme where viable smes that are constrained by non - performing loans are assisted through loan restructuring and the provision of additional funding. in addition, through exim bank, two new trade financing products for smes have been introduced in 2006. the census that was completed in 2005 had however, indicated that about 80

muhammad bin ibrahim : mobile payment – the next wave keynote address by mr muhammad bin ibrahim, governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the payment system forum & exhibition 2017 " mobile payment : the next wave ", kuala lumpur, 8 december 2017. * * * welcome to the payment system forum & exhibition 2017. this year ’ s theme ‘ mobile payment : the next wave ’ is the continuation of our country ’ s e - payment transformation that started seven years ago. in 2011, we launched the 10 - year e - payment roadmap in the financial sector blueprint 2011 – 2020. various reform measures were instituted to remove pricing distortions, instill market incentives and induce competition to reduce costs in our effort to create a conducive environment to accelerate migration to e - payments. these measures have been effective in reducing malaysia ’ s usage of cheques and fostering the adoption of e - payments. the total cheque volume has declined by 42 % from 205 million cheques in 2011 to an estimated 120 million cheques in 2017. electronic fund transfers have increased from 66 million transactions in 2011 to an estimated 329 million transactions in 2017, surpassing the number of cheques issued by almost three times. at the current rate of decline, we are likely to achieve the financial sector blueprint target of reducing cheque usage to 100 million in the year 2019, one year ahead of schedule. encouraging progress has also been made in the expansion of the point - of - sale ( pos ) terminal network. the reform measures in the payment card reform framework ( pcrf ) implemented since 2015 have enhanced transparency and competition, bringing about a continued decline in the average merchant discount rates ( or mdr ). merchants have benefited from lower cost of accepting card payments, with an estimated cost savings of about rm422. 4 million from 2015 to september this year. consequently, the annual growth of pos terminals has more than doubled from about 6. 8 % for the period between 2011 and 2014, to 17 % for the period between 2015 and 2017. key trends shaping our payment landscape today since the payment forum in 2015, many developments have taken place in the payment landscape both domestically and internationally. firstly, society has become increasingly digital and connected, driven by the internet and mobile revolution. for a population of 32. 1 million in malaysia, there are 42. 8 million mobile phone subscriptions while smartphone penetration stands at 70 % and is increasing. secondly, payment technology has become