cybernetic threats and fraud. in this respect, psd2 has paid special attention to the risks involved in carrying out electronic payment operations in general and, in particular, to those conducted remotely, the aim being to provide users with an environment of maximum safety when they opt to perform these operations. by way of illustration, psd2 urges that measures be adopted that reduce the incidence of fraud and that ensure the continuity of payment services with a view to shoring up users ’ ultimate confidence. such measures include most notably the obligation to periodically assess the effectiveness of specific risk control and mitigation measures and the duty to notify the authorities of the serious security incidents that arise. furthermore, psd2 provides for the general application of strong customer authentication mechanisms, whether in payment or consultation operations. i refer here to the promotion of practices such as the sending of a single - use code through a mobile phone in order to be able to complete an on - line purchase transaction. while it is true that some of these measures are nothing new for many current payment services providers, their systematisation and level of granularity do indeed have a deep - seated impact in that they make it necessary for adjustments to be made to pre - existing uses. the deployment of strong authentication procedures adds greater operational complexity to the classical means of interaction with customers and here, once again, given that the situation may entail a certain level of initial confusion, it would be advisable to develop educational and assistance programmes that help accommodate users to the new reality. bank customers and financial education i cannot stress this point enough. financial and digital literacy are basic, crucial factors for the efficient use of financial technology and for lessening the level of risk implicit in its use. involuntary authorisation for access to personal information or fraud, to which i have just referred, are merely some of the examples of this implicit risk. other examples are : ( i ) the offering of complex, opaque projects that are difficult to understand and which may be wrapped up in a user - friendly fashion for the public at large through applications ( apps or similar ) ; ( ii ) the disclosure of relevant information, pre - contractual or contractual alike, through smart phones or tablets, in which the size of the screen and the immediacy of acceptance limit customers ’ capacity to know what they are really agreeing to ; ( iii ) limitations in obtaining direct and personalised advice from a qualified adviser ; ( iv ) discrimination linked to the use of macro - data,

of services at the forefront. this is a healthy development, in which the rbi, government of india and members of iba have a stake. in this spirit, i will recall and share with you important issues that have been addressed by each of the three stakeholders in the recent past. of course, the narration is illustrative and not exhaustive and covers the last couple of years. reserve bank of india first, the status of pursuit of medium term objective of reducing preemptions through both crr and slr. slr has been brought down to the statutory minimum. progress in reduction in crr continues to be closely related to the pace of reduction in fiscal deficit, monetary developments vis - a - vis growth in real output, and uncertainties in forex markets. on all these fronts, greater comfort in the past could have helped more rapid reduction in crr, to achieve the medium term objective. in a structural sense, rbi has since progressed in the pursuit of the objective viz. proposal to amend the law relating to preemptions to give flexibility to rbi to bring the crr and slr even below 3 per cent and 25 per cent, as and when rendered possible. in a procedural sense, significant progress has been made in the prescribed manner of calculating and maintaining the reserve requirements. the medium term objective of reducing pre - emptions and imparting a greater flexibility and simplification of procedures continues to be at the top of the rbi ’ s agenda for reform. in pursuing this objective, the rbi keeps in view not only the balance sheets of the banks but also the need to move towards universal banking, and diversifying financial intermediation which is heavily concentrated now in banks rather than non - banks. reduction in refinance window and introduction of liquidity adjustment facility have provided greater flexibility in this regard, and further progress in these two areas is bound to ensure lesser recourse to preemptions in the conduct of monetary policy. second, on interest rates, the reform objectives in terms of greater deregulation and rationalisation of small savings rates etc. have been achieved to a significant degree. further progress in deregulation continues to depend on some stability in inflationary expectations, which in turn is dependent on credibility of price - stability. the emphasis in future has to be to impart greater flexibility to interest rate regimes, in an environment of reasonable price - stability and a rational tax - regime. a rational taxregime in the