used for settlement of cheque clearing positions of the port louis automated clearing house ( plach ). the plach was established in 1967 for the collection of taxes and other revenues for the government. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches the introduction of mobile payments was yet another important milestone in the digitalization process. however, in the absence of a central platform, service providers operated their private schemes in a silo model and this initiative did not have the expected impact. to bridge this gap, the bank established a national payment switch, the mauritius central automated switch. branded as maucas, the switch is a 24 / 7 digital payment system based on novel state - of - the - art technology. this innovative digital platform makes banking, e - commerce and mobile payments interoperable and encourages cashless means of payment. fintech firms can leverage on this platform to offer value - added services and provide banks with opportunities to collaborate with emerging technologies service providers. this synergy not only brings more efficiency in the system but also acts as a catalyst in the digital transformation of the economy. ladies and gentlemen, when i assumed office in march this year, i took several initiatives to pave the way from a cashbased to a highly electronic and digital structure. the upgrading of the macss and the bulk clearing system, the setting up of a platform for facilitating digital customer identification and the implementation of an infrastructure to support digitalization of government payments are some of these initiatives. my vision is to uplift the payment ecosystem in mauritius to a level comparable to that of advanced economies, and make it a key pillar for the digitalization of the economy. i am pleased to share with you that, as a result of an effective collaborative approach with all banks since april this year, all banks offering retail payment services in mauritius have already joined the maucas platform. i thank all banks for having delivered on what seemed to be a tall order in april this year, that too despite the lock - down period. in line with our strategy to expand the payment landscape, we are now actively facilitating the integration of non - bank operators to the national payment switch as well. work is equally ongoing on a number of key initiatives which will further facilitate digital transformation of banking and payment services. these include digital identification using new technologies such as facial recognition and other associated tools as well as the establishment of the central kyc system to enable digital customer on - boarding in both the banking and nonbanking space. another ground - breaking

1 2021. i am equally pleased to share with you that, as part of the commitment to continuously innovate and improve service to the business community, the bank is embarking on an assessment of improving efficiency in its real - time gross settlement system and potentially making the macss operate on a 24 / 7 basis. this will improve ease of doing business and enable the business community to better handle their payments. ladies and gentlemen, i have noted low adoption of payment infrastructure by the local business community. i therefore encourage all of you present today and, through the mcci, the entire local business community to adopt payment infrastructures and to improve efficiency for themselves and their clients by taking full advantage of the initiatives the bank is rolling out for payment systems both domestically and regionally. i hope that today ’ s informative session will provide you with deeper insights on the merits of the maucas and the sadc and comesa cross - border payment systems. the bank ’ s payments team will take you through detailed presentations and i encourage you to make the session as interactive as possible by asking your questions. with these words, ladies and gentlemen, i wish you a very fruitful session and deliberations. i also take this opportunity to wish you and your close ones our best wishes for the new year. i thank you for your attention. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches