paved the way for new distribution models, such as mobile and online banking interfaces, and multi - service financial digital platforms. using readily available and scalable technology from specialized service providers, enables licensed financial or payment institutions to focus on their core business thus ensuring that they are able to adapt rapidly, meeting the ever - changing demands and 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches expectations of their customers. however, the other hand, outsourcing services to third parties is not something that should be taken lightly, having regard only to cost and efficiency. licensed institutions are required to make sure that they are in full control of their business and operations, have an exit strategy in place to avoid excessive dependencies on a specific service provider and adequately manage any risks. based on eu regulation, the outsourcing of critical and important services by licensed institutions to third parties, requires a prior notification to the supervisory authority. furthermore, while outsourcing allows institutions to focus on their core business, institutions continue to be responsible for the functions that have been outsourced. indeed, the partnership between technology firms and financial services firms, when carefully planned in order to avoid delegating the control and decision - making of a licensed institution, is important for the continued growth and stability of the financial sector, ensuring that it remains at the forefront of innovation and capable of serving the needs of our citizens in the digital age. the supervisory role of the cbc i also wish to say a few words about the supervisory role of the cbc. the cbc is responsible for the supervision of a broad spectrum of institutions, including banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions. furthermore the cbc supervises the compliance of licensed institutions with the anti - money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism legislation, as well as their compliance with the implemented sanctions regimes. the safeguarding of the financial sector's reputation is imperative for the cbc, and the cbc exercises its supervisory role through off - site supervision and on - site inspections. needless to say, failure to comply with the laws may have adverse effects on individual institutions, on the financial sector's reputation as a whole, as well as, on the economy of cyprus. the cbc has thus a vested interest in encouraging and promoting compliant domestic financial innovation, as some of the startups may end up providing their services to supervised entities, or decide to apply for a licence and come under the supervision of the cbc. ladies and gentlemen, i have shared my views on the emerging, fast changing and technological

speeches technology and transform their business models towards technologically advanced services. therefore there is a requirement for further significant improvement. technological advancement moves at a fast pace, constantly creating room for more actions to ensure and maintain the sustainability and resilience of the cyprus banking sector. the central bank of cyprus ( cbc ) has taken initiatives towards creating a binding bridge and fostering enhancement of technological advancement within the banking and payments sector. let me briefly refer to two of these initiatives, that are important for the facilitation of modernization of our financial services. digital on - boarding the cbc, in our effort to push the sector into digitalisation for a better and more efficient customer experience and help the economy, has developed and issued a tender for the implementation of a remote electronic digital on - boarding technological platform and process, aiming to speed - up the process for collecting, identifying and reviewing data of current and prospective bank clients. we lobbied the cypriot banks to participate in this effort. i'm happy to report that a significant interest was shown by local and international tenderers, resulting in a remarkable participation to the tender. this digital solution will bring benefits to individuals and corporates, reducing the time needed for their bank transactions and upgrading the quality of service they receive through : 1. remote / non - physical on - boarding of new customers via a digitalised process, 2. remote updating of existing customer data and information and in phase ii of the project3. information sharing between participating credit institutions and 4. connectivity with utility service providers and governmental services. at the same time, it will improve the efficiency and openness of banking services, while adhering to relevant european regulations for on - boarding clients thus creating a comparative advantage for the cyprus banking system. to this end, the customer account opening and account review time is expected to be significantly improved both for the banks as well as the customers. this should result in an efficient financial ecosystem to be formed, encouraging collaboration among financial institutions, through trustworthy information sharing. at its first stage it will be implemented in the banking sector, but our intention is to subsequently scale it to other cbc regulated service providers, such as electronic money institutions and payment institutions. innovation hub in order to further encourage, promote and support domestic financial innovation, the cbc has also established an innovation hub. it's aim is to become an official platform 2 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches for communication between the cbc, as a supervisory and regulatory authority, and businesses or startups active in