anymore. consumers are increasingly looking for convenience, speed, and low cost remittance services. most importantly, they are looking for service providers they can trust. competition is getting more intense. to illustrate this, let me share with you a cnn article on amazon go. amazon go is the future of retail shopping. you can walk into the convenience store, grab what you need, and you will receive a message that your credit card is charged for your purchase. the question is, what will be the future of the remittance sector? for the industry players, y o u can re - shape the remittance landscape. use technology to eliminate the major pain points in remittance, to better understand consumer behavior and needs, and to offer consumers a positive remittance experience from the start. within the migrant communities, words travel fast. we know that word - of - mouth is the most effective form of marketing. although i believe that the brick - and - mortar stores are here to stay with digitalization, the savings incurred from not having to pay for overheads can translate to lower remittance costs for consumers. ultimately, when there is greater use of authorised remittance channels, we can reduce remittances that are transferred through illegal operators. currently, we have 21 remittance service providers offering digital remittance services, more than double the number 3 years ago. with the implementation electronic know - your - customer or e - kyc, consumers will be able to experience end - to - end digital remittance transactions. these are positive and exciting developments happening in our remittance market. better public - private sector alliance to strengthen compliance bank negara malaysia will continue to work closely with the industry to promote financial inclusion and this will be done primarily through the digitalization of remittance. regulators also need to keep up with the times. we are taking a different approach this time – from ‘ regulator instruct, industry do ’ and ‘ regulator knows best ’, to creation of public - private sector alliance. it is vital to leverage on each other ’ s strengths and resources, not only to reap the benefits of technology, but also to overcome the emerging threats. we are all in this together. greater harmonisation of regulatory framework on the remittance industry at the regional and 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches global levels is required to increase consistency in standards and reduce regulatory burdens on industry players. as a start, we have shared with

donald joshua jaganathan : digitization of remittances for migrant workers in malaysia welcoming remarks by mr donald joshua jaganathan, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the project greenback 2. 0 kota kinabalu dinner, kota kinabalu, 3 november 2018. * * * yang berbahagia datuk yeo boon hai, datuk bandar, dewan bandaraya kota kinabalu, dr. firas raad, country manager for malaysia, world bank group, it is a pleasure for me to be here this evening. on behalf of bank negara malaysia, i would like to express my appreciation to dewan bandaraya kota kinabalu for hosting project greenback 2. 0 in this beautiful city ; our project partner, the world bank, for your continued support and commitment to this important initiative ; and to all of you who are gathered here today, for your hard work and dedication to ensure the project achieves its objectives. i am also delighted that we have representatives from bangko sentral ng pilipinas and bank indonesia with us tonight. migrant remittances and project greenback 2. 0 mr. juan somavia, the former director general of the international labour organization based in switzerland once said “ migrants are an asset to every country, where they bring their labour. let us give them the dignity they deserve as human beings and the respect they deserve as workers ”. malaysia is a land of opportunity for many. close to 1. 8 million foreign workers, men and women, have left their loved ones behind to earn better income here. for many, they are simply chasing the “ malaysian dream ”. often, the money they send home is a critical lifeline for their families. malaysia is also a major remittance sending country to other asean nations. last year, migrant workers in malaysia sent 2 billion usd to indonesia and the philippines alone. for the recipient countries, these funds lifted many households out of poverty. in a way, they also supported the countries ’ socio - economic developments. a new game plan : digitalisation as gateway to greater financial inclusion this is where our work in project greenback 2. 0 comes in. we started project greenback here in sabah 8 months ago, with a new game plan – digitalisation. we considered the following factors – around 70 % of the migrants here work in the agriculture and plantation sectors ; they are scattered across the remote areas ;