of trading opportunities and reach economies of scale faster. • this is what the business sans borders initiative by mas and the infocomm development authority is seeking to do. • bsb is an open connector of platforms ( a “ meta - hub ” ) which helps address three challenges faced by smes – opaque pricing, complex supply chains, and lack of access to digital solutions. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches • this is a cross - border platform, connecting infrastructure across countries. fundamentally, finance needs to support the way people live their lives and businesses go about their business. • embedding innovation and digital finance in people ’ s lives is the only way to achieve sustained and meaningful financial inclusion. • as countries, we must learn from one other, partner in innovative projects, and manage risks collaboratively. • and we should do so with the consumer right at the centre of our thinking. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

need? let me make two major points in this context. • first, fintech must offer interoperable solutions. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches • second, the solutions must be embedded in the broader context of people ’ s lives and the daily operations of businesses. financial products need interoperable rails to reach customers effectively. let me cite two quick examples : identity and payments. identity is the starting point in any digital transaction. if the process of authenticating yourself is easy and secure, you are more likely to begin using and continue using additive financial services. payments is the most basic financial service. people are more likely to continue using digital payments if they can do so without regard for the recipient ’ s mobile provider or bank. in singapore, in the case of both identity authentication and payments, we have striven to make the user experience seamless and delightful. myinfo is singapore ’ s shared consumer e - kyc engine. • there are more than 50 government and 200 private sector digital services that a user can access via myinfo. • our personal data is spread across different government agencies. • they are not brought together because any one government agency should not know all the personal details about a citizen ; agencies should only collect and access data relevant to their work. • myinfo empowers the consumer to give consent to his service provider to access his personal data residing in different government agencies, be it for opening a bank account or applying for a credit card. paynow is our system for cheaper, faster and secure interoperable peer - to - peer payments. it has reached s $ 1 billion in transactions per month. other countries, notably india, estonia, and the nordics, have also created advanced industrywide digital infrastructures. • a next step would be to learn from one another ’ s experience in developing public digital infrastructures – to meet our own country needs as well as to ensure seamless interoperability of these infrastructures across borders. second, digital finance needs to be embedded in the way small businesses operate daily, across their supply chains. • a merchant is more likely to pay her employees digitally, if she receives digital payments from her customers, and transacts digitally with her suppliers. • we will not progress if we have cash on one side of the supply chain, and digital payments on the other. going a step further, if we can unlock digital sme trade across borders, we will help smes access a broader range