Among others, we would adopt the Regulatory Sandbox Framework, allowing banks and FinTech firms to test their innovation with limited group of customers before launching their services to broader public. Financial institutions are also allowed to invest more flexibly in FinTech related venture capital . It is worth noting here that the benefits of FinTech are not only limited to lower cost of financial services but also greater financial inclusion, to which I now turn. Greater financial inclusion not only improves welfare of the people but also unleashes economic potential of the previously excluded. The Bank of Thailand has focused on promoting financial system’s access and inclusion. For instance, e-Payment channels play an important role in providing payment access at low costs. Money transfer via the PromptPay platform will be free for the amount not higher than 5,000 baht. Besides, the government will also be able to use e-Payment as a means to directly transfer welfare benefits to the targeted group of end beneficiaries as mentioned by the Minister of Finance. In addition to embracing FinTech and implementing the e-Payment as part of the key measures to improve financial access, other notable measures are the implementation of the Business Security Act and the expansion of data bases for individual and SME borrowers. The Business  Security Act, which came into effect in July of this year, expands the list of eligible collaterals for secured lending by financial institutions to include things like inventories, and receivables.
The passage of this Act is a win-win for small businesses as well as banks. The Bank of Thailand regulations on loan classification, provisioning requirement, and valuation guidelines have been issued to help banks adopt this new collateral regime. 4/5  BIS Central Banker's Speeches  Ultimately however, we would like to see Thailand moving from collateral-based lending towards cash-flow-based lending especially for small businesses with few or no eligible collaterals but otherwise viable prospects. In order to do so, we need to have sufficient data for credit risk enhancement and monitoring. In light of this objective, we are developing an industry-wide SME database from pooled bank data for banks to use for their planning and risk management. In addition, we are working with relevant parties to amend the Credit Bureau Act to expand its membership to players like Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lenders. These efforts would get along well with the government policy to expand the roles and coverage of Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) to provide credit access for SMEs lacking collateral security. Ladies and Gentlemen. If we look beyond our domestic market, increasing regional integration brings numerous exciting business opportunities. Thailand’s strategic location at the heart of Mainland ASEAN along with close economic relations with our neighbors make us a natural candidate to become a regional connector of trade and financial services. We have offered many fronts to enhance such connectivity.