our unbanked, low income and poor people, as well as the overall benefits to the communities and the economy of fiji. at this workshop, the chairpersons of the respective working groups will fully enlighten you on progress being made in their areas. however, let me share with you some of the exciting developments over the past fourteen months. the commercial banks have now fully established and integrated microfinance into their operations and are conducting microfinance and financial literacy services in villages and communities in the rural and remote areas, as well as in the urban and semi - urban areas. their momentum is being driven by highly capable senior staff, appointed especially for the job. bis central bankers ’ speeches in 2010 the banks also joined the rbf, micro finance institutions, government ministries, pfip and other stakeholders in three very successful expos held in ba, labasa and suva. it was extremely pleasing to see so many people moving through the various tents and also some of our micro finance entrepreneurs being given the opportunity to show off and sell some of their wares. we will continue the expos through 2011. while on the subject of financial literacy, we were all delighted with the recent launch by the ministry of education of their fined programme, which will see the integration of financial education into the school curriculum from class one to form seven by 2012. not to be outdone in all of this, the two major mobile phone network operators also successfully launched their mobile phone money services in fiji in the middle of last year. we are proud to say that these initiatives are the first of their kind in the pacific region. our example is now being used to launch similar services elsewhere. clearly the mobile money platform can be built on and taken to the next level insofar as banking is concerned. i look forward to these developments. at least one bank has introduced sms banking for its customers, while internet banking, an ever - expanding atm network and eftpos interchange developments, now allow many more banking options over a wider area of the country. there will definitely be some innovative options available as this technology spreads across fiji. the opening of nearly 17000 accounts by one bank for social welfare recipients has been another important inclusion milestone in 2010, enabling participants to access their funds electronically with much greater convenience. i also acknowledge the current efforts by our microfinance institutions to restructure and reposition themselves on stronger platforms which will enable them to effectively and efficiently reach out to their clients and the

barry whiteside : development of credit and debit card payments in fiji address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the launch of china unionpay cards, being accepted at bank south pacific atms, suva, 17 september 2012. * * * salutations mr cai jianbo ( first executive vice president china unionpay ) mr kevin mccarthy ( bank south pacific country head for fiji ) representatives of the embassy of the people ’ s republic of china representatives of the credit issuing banks and china unionpay distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen introduction bula vinaka and ni how it is an honour for me to be here today at the launch of the business partnership between china unionpay and bank south pacific. in fiji, we are always pleased to see the strengthening of collaboration, partnerships and business opportunities with countries that are aligned to our objectives and will help us grow as a nation. it is also a pleasure to welcome all our distinguished guests from the people ’ s republic of china. you may be a long way from home, but please take the time to experience our world renowned fijian hospitality. china unionpay cards i understand that our prime minister launched the unionpay products in fiji on 20 september 2010, almost two years ago to the day. at that time the china unionpay cards were accepted by a few merchants in the country. that official launch in 2010 enabled local merchants and businesses to be aware of this particular brand. with greater acceptance over time, this is vital for the development of the chinese tourist market. today ’ s announcement of the ability of bsp atms to accept china unionpay credit and debit cards is a milestone achievement. this will now allow china unionpay ’ s 3. 1 billion cardholders the ability to conduct financial transactions at any of bsp ’ s 100 atms or 1, 000 eftpos terminals when they are visiting fiji. this milestone, with the added convenience of direct flights between hong kong and fiji and the visa on arrival policy for chinese visitors to fiji, will add to the attractiveness of fiji as a popular tourist destination for inbound chinese travellers. china unionpay, together with bsp, will be able to offer chinese tourists, as well as unionpay card cardholders from other countries, a better way to facilitate their financial transactions while they are in fiji. we have noted a large increase in tourist arrivals from china recently. in 2009, the number of