more access points and a broader range of financial products. we introduced the “ branch - lite ” concept to reach underserved areas ; the promotion of “ basic deposit accounts ” ( bdas ) to encourage account ownership among the unbanked ; as well as the issuance of guidelines on agricultural value chain financing to increase the flow of credit to the agricultural sector. all these complement our long - standing campaigns to promote financial literacy and consumer protection. recently, we have begun to harness the power and reach of the digital space to further push this agenda. the digital revolution underscores the importance of innovation and technology to ensure delivery of financial products and services to a wider segment of society. in this regard, digital payment channels have found their way into our payments and settlements infrastructure. under the national retail payments system ( nrps ), we aim to leverage on financial technology — or fintech — to bring about an inter - operable, safe, and efficient real - time digital payments system. just this april, we launched instapay to enable 24 / 7 low - value electronic transfers. these initiatives should facilitate the shift from being a cash - heavy to a cash - lite economy, a trend we observe happening across the globe. even as we provide an enabling environment for these technological innovations in the payments ecosystem, the bsp “ walks the talk ” by exploring ways to digitalize our own payments processes. you may have noticed that all medical reimbursements, regardless of amount, are now being directly credited to the payroll account. cashless payment options using qr codes are now available at our canteen and cooperative stores. soon, bsp employees may have the option to open their payroll account with other domestic banks. digitalization of travel allowances, as well as of our payment collections, are also underway. my fellow bspers, much has changed since the bsp was established 25 years ago. today, the momentum for progress and reform has not diminished. i could not be prouder to say that we have done this well and this much because of everyone ’ s invaluable contributions to the cause. for this, i, on behalf of the monetary board, also salute and honor the three governors who came before me — the late governor gabriel singson, the late governor rafael buenaventura, and former governor amando tetangco, jr. who joins us today to celebrate with us. thomas aquinas said, that “ if the highest aim of a

output volatility. [ i will leave this for james to further explain during his presentation tomorrow. ] for the second type of change : on ways to design and deliver products to improve access to financial service. financial product providers need to be mindful that, while most of the new entrants ( generally the poor ) have had to be savvy to deal with their unpredictable cashflows to “ survive ”, they are not ( necessarily ) as capable in dealing with a whole array of new financial products. moreover, banks must also be careful to extend certain types of credit to certain clients. this could just expose lenders to higher risks and it can also expose illinformed borrowers to increased risk of debt distress. these concerns related to product development highlight the need for proportionate regulation that adequately balances the need for flexibility and openness to innovation, on one hand, with that of mechanisms to ensure that risks are properly managed, on the other. this will allow market contestability and the development of market - based solutions to serve markets that were traditionally unserved or underserved. we ’ ve already seen innovative market - based approaches to improve credit access for microfinance borrowers. we ’ ve witnessed the move from brick - and - mortar offices to alternative financial service providers such a micro banking offices and e - money issuers. addressing technological innovation : thru financial education, consumer protection and proportionate regulation innovations, particularly through financial technology, can indeed be the catalyst for greater financial inclusion. technological innovation has the potential to reduce costs and accelerate the on - boarding of currently excluded markets into the formal financial system. in addition, technology solutions promise to enhance regulatory capacity and tools to supervise the market, and facilitate regulatory compliance and reporting of financial institutions. some examples of these include : 1. big data analytics and algorithms that can be used to address information assymetry in financial service provision ( e. g., analytics of social media behavior can predict financial behavior of target clients ) ; 2. crowdfunding platforms that may be utilized for generating funds for smes, start - ups and innovators. ( e. g., peer - to - peer lending or equity crowdfunding ) 3. digital currencies. ( when this is safely managed, this may facilitate payments, money transfers and e - commerce. ) 4. regtech or using technology to enhance regulatory capacity and enable regulators to analyze data to ensure timely supervision and intervention. as traditional players (