you to connect the dots. bis central bankers ’ speeches fiji – financial inclusion journey prior to 2009, very little was known about financial inclusion in fiji and it wasn ’ t something that was going anywhere in great leaps and bounds! for the reserve bank, our financial inclusion journey really began in 2009 with the establishment of a new group within the bank to provide more focus on financial systems development. in november of that year the reserve bank, together with the pacific financial inclusion programme, hosted the first national microfinance workshop, which brought together many of the key stakeholders who were to play important roles in contributing to, and driving, financial inclusion. an important outcome of this initial workshop was the first 5 - year national financial inclusion strategy for fiji ( 2010 - 2014 ), from which the current financial inclusion policy framework was adopted. since then a collaborative approach has always been taken, with the establishment of the national financial inclusion taskforce and its four working groups ( covering financial products and services, financial literacy, data and inclusive insurance ). this model provided a platform for effective collaboration between all stakeholders who agreed to make financial inclusion work in fiji. getting the buy - in of our stakeholders ( including financial institutions, government agencies, mobile network operators, civil society and donors ) was a critical first step in the process. this approach, i believe, has been instrumental to the success of most of our financial inclusion efforts. some of the significant achievements which contributed to the meeting of our agreed targets from that first strategic plan, which ended last year, include : • the integration of financial education ( fined ) into the school curriculum at both primary and secondary levels ( the education department, together with pfip, obviously played a major role, for which we are very grateful ) ; • the introduction of mobile money ( through the mobile network operators ) ; • the implementation of policies for commercial banks : which included the setup of microfinance units to extend financial services to the poor and low income households and to micro and small enterprises ; and branchless banking guidelines for reliable and sustainable delivery of financial services to communities where there is no bank presence ; • the continuous public awareness, financial literacy and community outreach through the national microfinance awards and financial inclusion expositions around the country ; and • the establishment of financial inclusion indicators and geo - spatial mapping of financial access points for monitoring of coverage and financial inclusion initiatives. notwithstanding the success of our journey so far, we recognise that there is still a lot to be done to ensure the ongoing effectiveness

this is what we call “ universal banking ”, a regime in which banks operate like financial supermarkets. naturally, banks like the universal banking regime as it offers non - interest income such as fees and commission as well as diversification of businesses. at the same time, customers also like universal banking as it offers great convenience in the form of a one - stop service instead of having to go through different firms for different types of financial transactions or products. there is a big difference though between a bank and a supermarket – you don ’ t entrust a supermarket with your hard - earned money or life savings ; and if you are enticed by a supermarket promotion to buy something you don ’ t need, the loss is unlikely to be huge but this may not be case for investment or insurance products. you could lose your shirt. therefore bank customers require protection not only on the safety of their deposits, but also in the way that they are treated as consumers and as investors. in terms of protecting the safety of customers ’ deposits, the hkma seeks to maintain prudential soundness of individual banks. we do this through the regulation and supervision of banks and, in the unfortunate event of a bank failure, through the activation of the deposit protection scheme to safeguard customers ’ deposits up to half a million hong kong dollars per depositor. in bis central bankers ’ speeches today ’ s speech, i propose to focus not on prudential supervision but on the protection of bank customers as consumers and investors. how do we protect bank customers? so the next question is : how do we protect bank customers as consumers and investors? the answer is the very same principle : “ treat your customers fairly ”. now let me elaborate on how this can be achieved. first of all, when selling a banking product, such as a loan or a credit card the bank must ensure that the key terms and conditions are fair and equitable. the bank should also ensure that the key terms and conditions are clearly spelt out and understood by the customer. for example, when a customer wants to take out a loan, the bank should highlight the key features about interest rates and any applicable fees, charges or penalty for late or early repayments. when it comes to the selling of investment products, the situation becomes more complicated. the complication arises not only from the risk inherent in the investment products, some of which can be rather complex, but also from the special relationship between banks and their customers. banks serve a special function in