economic mainstream. this would not only promote the opening of banking accounts amongst this target group but would also enable them to enjoy lower cost of financial services and better means of savings, thus benefiting the economy as a whole. as the electronic payment channels become more easily accessible, user - friendly and offered at a low cost, it would thus provide the opportunity to shift the remittance flows from the informal to formal channels. indeed, electronic payments can be one of the strategic tools to meet these objectives and achieve higher economic growth. electronic payment increases operational efficiency and improves productivity levels through expedient payments and receipts of funds. electronic payments would also provide the speed and convenience of making payments from any place or time. it also reduces costs through the reduction of redeployment of resources used for handling cash and cheques. accelerating the country's migration to electronic payments has therefore become a part of malaysia's larger national agenda to increase the efficiency of the nation's payment systems which would ultimately improve the competitiveness of our economy. cash payments in malaysia still account for a large portion of the number of transactions in the economy. going forward it is expected that its use will level off and stabilise with the increased use of electronic means of payments. credit cards, atm cards, debit cards including the e - purse application embedded in the mykad are among the card payments possibilities in malaysia. the increased use of cards is an international trend and is expected to gain significance in malaysia. giro transfers, other credit transfers and direct debit are also gaining significance by both individuals and businesses. finally, internet banking has also begun to experience stronger growth. while we have made considerable progress in promoting the adoption of electronic payment with notable growth registered across all electronic payment methods, paper - based payments still remains the more popular form of payment. cheques continue to account for a high percentage of the total non - cash retail payments while currency - in - circulation ( cic ) as a percentage of gdp remains relatively high at 5. 7 %. in 2006, malaysian consumers on average, made only 0. 7 transaction via direct debit and credit transfer and 0. 2 transaction via debit card transaction as compared to 84. 7 and 109. 5 transactions, respectively, in sweden. hence, more needs to be done to raise the level of adoption of electronic payments. in this regard, the bank has formulated an electronic payments roadmap aimed at bringing together relevant stakeholders to address the barriers that have

impeded the increased adoption of electronic payment in a comprehensive and strategic manner. the roadmap identifies the priority areas that require attention and collaboration to promote an environment that is conducive for greater use of electronic payment in financial transactions. firstly, is the need to put in place the payment infrastructure. the infrastructure for making payments would need to be widened and enhanced to provide the convenient access to electronic payments. in addition, solutions need to be developed to enable users to integrate easily with the payment offerings. secondly, the product range, the range of services would need to be expanded to cater for the different payment needs of consumers and business sectors. thirdly, the pricing framework, the formulation of a transparent and cost - effective pricing framework is important to provide the incentive structure that would spur the adoption of electronic means of payments. fourth, is the consumer awareness. programmes need to be implemented to inculcate the behavioral change among consumers. there needs to be trust and confidence in the electronic payment systems. the fifth area relates to the standards, the setting of common standards to address the interoperability of systems including standardising the payment messaging format is vital to the wider acceptance of electronic payment. finally, is the need to ensure the security and integrity of the payment system which thus requires the supporting regulatory and legal framework to be in place. among the series of initiatives that have been implemented to promote the greater use of electronic payment relates to the leadership role of the government in the migration to electronic means of payment. as most individuals and businesses have payment transactions with the government, the role of the government in accepting electronic payments has provided an important catalyst for the adoption of electronic payment on a national scale. in this regard, bank negara malaysia has been in active partnership with the government to drive the electronic payment agenda. this has also served to reinforce the government's objective to enhance the efficiency of the public delivery system. this collaboration has resulted in the acceptance of the use of cards including the atm card, which also functions as a debit card, for over the counter services and the offering of payment services via internet banking and the internet - based financial process exchange ( fpx ) payment system. another initiative undertaken has been the review of the remittance and e - money regulatory framework to encourage the introduction of payment products that would cater for the unbanked and underserved communities such as migrant workers and consumers with low income and low financial literacy and who may have no alternative but to rely on informal