then perform end - of - day balancing to ensure all cash is accounted for, they must then bundle cash into safes and pay for it to be securely transported to banks. likewise, bank branches must invest in secure infrastructure to transport cash among their branches and atm networks, and store cash in branches. 9 detailed analysis on how dlt can change payments systems is provided in wadsworth ( 2018b ). 10 transaction fees could decrease compared to current electronic fees as the number of service providers for electronic payments would be reduced and authorisation, clearing and settlement could be conducted by the central bank. these improvements would be most beneficial for cross - border transactions, which are currently subject to lengthy delays and large fees ( and lack of transparency ). a crypto - currency issued by a central bank presents a more mixed argument for payments efficiency. dlt combines clearing and settlement into a single step called validation. however, how this impacts the payments process depends on the design of the technology. if a central bank issued crypto - currency was based on blockchain then it would circumvent the existing conventional payment system and benefit from several pros : 11 • • • • faster settlement, which reduces default risk. cheaper cross border transactions. transparent payments, which incentivises faster payments processing. no single point of failure, which increases resilience to cyber - attacks and operational failures. however, it would also be subject to several cons : • • • • • slower release of goods and services due to slow confirmation of the payment. high energy use for validation, and relatively high fees for domestic payments. not scalable to large volumes of transactions due to the longer time taken to validate each block of transactions. probabilistic finality — there is a very small chance that the transaction could be nullified if a malicious agent managed to change the blockchain. reliance on crypto - currency exchanges for cross - border transactions which could be subject to cyber - attacks. a central bank could mitigate these cons by introducing limited access, central validation, and control to the ledger. 12 this would improve the speed, cost and scalability of payments, and enable deterministic payment finality ( similar to existing payments ) and privacy for sensitive information. however, it would reintroduce a single point of failure. experiments by the bank of canada and monetary authority of singapore revealed that these centralised dlts are very similar to existing payments systems, without additional benefits.

##ernable progress ( although we can increase the pace ) ; we are in the process of modernising the payments system. we have now electronically automated the clearing house, and this has reduced the cheque clearing period to only a few days. the objective is to reduce the clearing period further to one day when the cheque imaging and truncation technology is in place. furthermore, large value payments ( that is, those in excess of half a million pula ) are made electronically, in this way benefiting government and large corporations, given improved speed and security, as the risk of fraud is reduced. the real time gross settlement system has also been in operation for a good number of years ( at least 7 years ). a platform of visa international called visanet provides a national net settlement service for all participating banks. internet banking, using a desktop computer, is complimented by mobile phone transactions for paying utility bills, money transfers and managing bank accounts. many pensioners and beneficiaries of government social security programmes are able to access their entitlements through smart card technology that is operated by local shops and businesses, irrespective of their place of abode. as a result of these ict - driven infrastructure improvements, people located in areas far away from developed parts of the country now have access to financial services. the time saved in long distance travel to go to banks and / or pay bills is significant. more broadly, the much needed financial inclusion is being facilitated by affording and extending basic services of money transfer, payments and safe - keeping to those living in all but the most remote communities. this is most important in our society where the extended family remains of central importance. it is particularly gratifying for those of us with long enough memories to recall the effort that was previously required to effect even the most basic transaction from such locations. cross - border payments have also been facilitated. in the sadc region, the payments integration project is well underway, and the sadc integration regional electronic settlement system ( siress for short ) is expected to be commissioned later this year. just as for infrastructure for domestic financial transactions, the prerequisite for effective cross - border payment systems is that they must be safe and secure. to echo the sentiments made by the honourable minister yesterday, this means an effective legal and regulatory framework is indispensible in each jurisdiction, in order to satisfy the much needed legal legitimacy of electronic signatures, as well as other identification and evidential information. bis