ravi menon : an electronic payments society keynote address by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the sim kee boon institute conference on fintech and financial inclusion, singapore, 19 august 2016. * * * distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. singapore has embarked on a journey to become a smart nation. • we want to embrace innovation and harness technology so as to increase the productivity of our businesses and enhance the welfare of our citizens. the financial services sector is well placed to play a leading role in the smart nation project. mas has been partnering the financial industry to create a smart financial centre, where innovation is pervasive and fintech is used widely. we want to do this to : • increase efficiency ; • manage risks better ; • create new opportunities ; and • improve people ’ s lives. a key component of the fintech agenda is payments. • all of us – as consumers, employees, or businesses – use payments. • payments impacts every sector of the economy. • so, getting payments right is important ; and we need to get it right for the future. that future is digital and mobile, and it is already here. • our wallets are overflowing with cards of every type and form. we can dip them, tap them, and now, add them to our mobile phones. • all the major mobile wallets – apple pay, android pay, samsung pay – are available in singapore. • they can be used at any merchant that accepts contactless visa, mastercard, or american express payments. our banks have been active in payments innovation, with several home grown mobile payments apps. • dbs has paylah! and standard chartered has dash. • these pioneering apps allow users to easily pay friends and businesses that use the same app. • and the newer apps can do even more. – ocbc ’ s pay anyone allows customers to send money to friends in singapore, using only their mobile number, facebook id, or email address. – uob has created uob mighty, an all - in - one mobile banking app and wallet similar to android pay. but the rest of the world has not been standing still. china, for instance, has been a hotbed for payments innovation. bis central bankers ’ speeches • wechat integrates social media and payments to let users make seamless peer - topeer payments, shop online, and even pay at physical merchants. • these solutions have made themselves an

potentially strongest – for the simple reason that we all need to use payment services to participate in the economy and society. as we proceed along our path towards becoming an e - payments society, the way we live and work will change. • diners will pay for dinner seamlessly and securely with a mobile phone. bis central bankers ’ speeches • parents will send pocket money to their children via an app. • young couples will make the down - payment for their hdb flats on their tablets using fast. • smes will use electronic inventory management platforms to make and receive payments. an e - payments society will be inclusive, innovative, and perhaps, even inspiring. thank you. social costs include costs incurred by banks, infrastructure providers, and merchants in using the payment systems, such as it costs, manpower, etc., but do not include fees paid to other parties in the payments landscape. e. g. merchant acquiring fees paid by merchants to banks would be netted off when considering the entire payment landscape as a whole. bis central bankers ’ speeches