Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Towards a more efficient payment system – electronic payments Keynote address by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the Mobile Digital Signature Symposium 2008 – "Towards a More Efficient Payment System: Electronic Payments", Cyberjaya, 3 June 2008. *  *  *  It is my honour and pleasure to be here today at this Mobile Digital Signature Symposium 2008 to deliver an address at this important forum. This forum takes place at a time when developments taking place in the global economy are resulting in fundamental changes to our lives. While the global economy has benefited from an extended period of high performance and strong growth, it now requires greater agility to adapt to the rapid changes that has occurred. A major emerging international phenomenon is the rising inflationary pressures. We are now living in an environment characterised by rising prices, with energy and commodity prices prevailing at record highs. Energy and commodity prices which have risen steeply have been driven by demand and supply factors and reinforced by market conditions. Clearly, the global factors that have influenced these international prices are beyond our control. Individually and collectively, we therefore need to adjust and adapt to these new conditions. Increasing efficiency and adopting new business processes needs to be explored to reduce costs.
In addition, solutions need to be developed to enable users to integrate easily with the payment offerings. Secondly, the product range, the range of services would need to be expanded to cater for the different payment needs of consumers and business sectors. Thirdly, the pricing framework, the formulation of a transparent and cost-effective pricing framework is important to provide the incentive structure that would spur the adoption of electronic means of payments. Fourth, is the consumer awareness. Programmes need to be implemented to inculcate the behavioral change among consumers. There needs to be trust and confidence in the electronic payment systems. The fifth area relates to the standards, the setting of common standards to address the interoperability of systems including standardising the payment messaging format is vital to the wider acceptance of electronic payment. Finally, is the need to ensure the security and integrity of the payment system which thus requires the supporting regulatory and legal framework to be in place. Among the series of initiatives that have been implemented to promote the greater use of electronic payment relates to the leadership role of the Government in the migration to electronic means of payment. As most individuals and businesses have payment transactions with the Government, the role of the Government in accepting electronic payments has provided an important catalyst for the adoption of electronic payment on a national scale. In this regard, Bank Negara Malaysia has been in active partnership with the Government to drive the electronic payment agenda.