the monetary authority of singapore ( mas ) embarked on a pioneering journey with the bank of thailand : to link our respective national faster payment systems – paynow in singapore, and promptpay in thailand. i am happy to say that the paynow - promptpay linkage will go live by mid - 2021. anyone who registers for paynow or promptpay will be able to send money directly from singapore to thailand, or vice versa, using just their mobile phone numbers – instantly, securely, at competitive rates, and at any time of the day. this linkage between two countries ’ national faster payment systems will be the first - of - itskind in the world. we will start off with a small group of banks on both sides, and scale up participation to include more banks and non - bank providers over time. mas is keen to partner other central banks in the region to expand the linkage, so that more people across southeast asia can benefit. timely health insurance claims next, pain points relating to making an insurance claim for hospitalisation. today, an individual being hospitalised may face uncertainty over his claimable insurance amount. hospitals have to access multiple systems to request for or provide information to different insurers ; and some of these processes are still paper - based. to enable more efficient claims processing, we are building a technology platform to securely share data with patient consent. mas, the ministry of health, and the integrated health information systems are collaborating with the insurance and healthcare sectors to build this platform. it will help to reduce duplicate claims, manual errors, and processing time. we will conduct a live pilot next year. holistic financial planning financial inclusion is not just about having access to financial services. it is also about empowering individuals with information and tools to make best use of financial services. today, our personal financial information – our deposit accounts, investment holdings, pension statements, insurance coverage, and so on – is fragmented across multiple entities. putting together this information is not easy. but if we don ’ t have a consolidated view of our financial portfolio, how can we do holistic financial planning? yesterday, deputy prime minister heng swee keat announced the launch of the singapore financial data exchange, or sgfindex for short. sgfindex is jointly developed by mas and the smart nation and digital government group, together with the key retail banks in singapore. it will enable individuals to consolidate their financial information residing in different banks and government agencies. 3 /

10 bis central bankers'speeches this is only the first step. we are working to expand sgfindex to include data from the central depository as well as data from insurance companies to enable individuals to have a more complete view of their financial status. sgfindex underscores an important principle : your personal financial information belongs to you, and you should be able to have a consolidated view of that information. sgfindex could well transform financial planning in singapore. by breaking down information silos, it will enable more holistic financial planning. authorised financial institutions will have to compete harder among themselves to provide quality financial planning services to their customers. it will empower and enable singaporeans to enhance their financial well - being. fintech for an inclusive society – small and medium enterprises besides individuals, small and medium enterprises are the other focus of singapore ’ s fintech agenda for a more inclusive society. an effective way to enhance the digital inclusion of smes is to get them plugged into common digital platforms that will enable them to enhance efficiency and expand their business opportunities. i will highlight how digital platforms are helping singapore smes in three areas : seamless cross border trade enhanced access to global opportunities efficient multi - currency payments and settlements seamless cross border trade – networked trade platform in a small market like singapore, to achieve scale, smes will have to sell their goods or services overseas. but cross - border trade can be painfully complicated. it involves multiple parties : from government agencies, logistics and services providers to trade financiers and insurers, and countless documents often with duplicative data. singapore customs has developed the networked trade platform, or ntp for short. ntp is a one - stop trade and logistics ecosystem which digitally connects players across the trade value chain – in singapore and abroad. all documents are digitised and the process is digitalised end - to - end. ntp enables smes to share information quickly and securely with multiple parties connected within the platform. it also enables smes toapply for trade financing with multiple banks through a single application portal. enhanced access to global opportunities – business sans borders it ’ s not just cross - border trade that smes have to contend with. they have to look abroad for business opportunities, for suppliers and customers. 4 / 10 bis central bankers'speeches they have to manage procurement, logistics, and supply chains, also across borders. to address these pain points, mas and the infocomm