smartphone, which can benefit consumers both in cities and in remote areas. moreover, the ever - expanding universe of new financial services means there are a number of choices and solutions available to fulfill different needs, especially those currently underserved. ladies and gentlemen, as financial technology can help unlock massive potential of our people, it is now up to us, the leaders and policymakers, to play an important role of “ the catalysts, ” to pave way for greater adoption of financial technology. on this point, i believe there are at least four key areas that catalysts like us must act together : 3 / 5 first, we must encourage common standards of technologies or platforms to avoid market fragmentation. having common standards would improve competition and innovation, as they allow easy access for all players, especially small innovative players. a good example of the common standards is the standardized qr code for electronic payment here in thailand, where banks and non - banks can apply the common standard to their applications. the result of which was the remarkable speed of adoption of qr code for payment ; in less than one year since its launch, qr code payment is accepted by over 2 million merchants all over thailand. more importantly, financial institutions within the region have already taken advantage of the interoperability of the qr code by applying the common standard in their applications for cross - border transactions with their partners. we are certain there will be many similar partnerships in the future. second, we must establish basic and open digital financial infrastructure so that further innovation can emerge to serve a wider range of consumers. open infrastructure enables service providers to build value - added services on top at low cost. for instance, e - payment services were created based on our promptpay infrastructure, such as bill payment and request - to - pay features. these, in turn, have helped facilitate e - payments for merchants and consumers and improved the overall e - commerce business landscape. even charitable organizations are able to take advantage of the open - platform with e - donation. meanwhile, the adoption of electronic payment through a common infrastructure can further create the data essential for information - based lending or for banks to improve on their risk models. third, we must facilitate greater convergence of rules and regulations within our region to make sure that existing regulations do not impede advancement of financial connectivity. efforts are being made in this area. asean central banks are working on initiatives under the asean banking integration framework to make banking regulations more cohesive, aiming at achieving greater consistency

there are a diverse and extensive number of software applications as well as know - hows available to satisfy businesses and consumers ; many of which can be accessed online and obtained free - of - charge. all of these have allowed for greater adoption of mobile devices as well as emergence of new financial technology platforms. looking around our region, there are many exciting developments taking place that can enhance our financial systems and strengthen their productivity, inclusivity, and immunity. for instance : a. emergence of faster - pay infrastructures and mobile financial services within our region like the fast payment and wing in cambodia, wave money in myanmar, or promptpay here in thailand have helped reduce the cost of financial services for financial institutions and the public at large. for thailand, the promptpay infrastructure has helped cut down cost of retail fund transfer so much so that most financial institutions now offer online transfers free - of - charge. these infrastructures are critical foundations for which new add - on services can be built upon to support growing e - commerce activities in our region. b. in addition, we have seen firms experimenting with using alternative online data and machine learning for credit scoring model. a credit 2 / 5 scoring model created from data of payment receipts should help financial institutions better assess credit risks while ensure that borrowers, especially small enterprises, gain funding at a fair price. c. another initiative undergoing testing here in thailand is the use of blockchain for cross - border financial transactions. this technology should make cross - border payments more secure, more efficient, and more affordable to businesses and a larger population in the near future. ladies and gentlemen, all of these are just some examples of the developments happening in our financial landscape. what is more important is that we must recognize that financial technology is a powerful tool for us to improve on productivity, immunity, and inclusivity. efficiency in financial services is enhanced, as new payment ecosystem can enable more efficient transfer of funds and significantly lower transactions costs for consumers. it also allows financial institutions to scale - down on the high cost brick - and - mortar model and shift to less costly and more efficient digital services. meanwhile, resilience is strengthened when financial institutions use payment or online data to better analyze and forecast credit demand and credit risks. additionally, advancement of technology like biometrics and blockchains can help safeguard financial information and reduce the number and magnitude of fraudulent activities. finally, financial inclusion is improved as digitization of financial services and platforms allow access through online or