The mobile app serves as a powerful tool to further promote transparency and competition in the money services business industry, by providing consumers with the information and facilities that will help them make smarter remittance choices. Kota Kinabalu will be an important testbed for these initiatives, serving as a model for envisioning an end-to-end digital remittance landscape in Malaysia. Given Sabah’s aspirations to develop a digital ecosystem, we could not have picked a better city or time to launch our next Greenback journey. As we look forward to the journey ahead, I cannot help but recall how far the MSB industry has come. In 2017, the MSB industry facilitated RM20 billion in worker remittances and a further RM400 million in business remittances. This represents a 43% and 300% increase respectively over values transacted in 2013 when significant reforms were introduced to strengthen standards and shore up trust and confidence in the industry. Today, an industry represented by progressive and credible principal MSB companies and a wide network of agents has not only improved access to services, but also raised the quality of service. With better knowledge, tools and resources, the industry has also worked hard to strengthen safeguards against its use for criminal and other illicit activities. The industry is already leading the way in the financial sector by certifying all compliance officers to equip them to be more effective in implementing AML/CFT measures.
This, coupled with the higher remittance cost of 4.5% in Kota Kinabalu compared to other parts of Malaysia presents a unique opportunity to leverage on the Greenback project, to support the financial needs and goals of foreign workers here in Sabah; to increase the development impact of remittances to our neighbouring countries; and importantly, to make remittances generally more efficient for businesses and the population of Sabah itself. Even though this is the second champion city in Malaysia, we are not only looking to replicate our experience in Johor Bahru. Indeed, we acknowledge the different challenges and opportunities presented in Sabah, which is why an important and distinct focus for Greenback Kota Kinabalu will be the wider use of technology to deliver remittance solutions in Sabah. Here in Sabah, people still often need to travel a great distance to send money home. This is 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  costly, cumbersome and at times, risky – made even more challenging by Sabah’s geography and remoteness of some parts of the state. Technology offers new possibilities to overcome these difficulties, while significantly improving user convenience. Although remittances through electronic channels is not new, the take-up rate of electronic remittances has been relatively slow. In 2017, the share of electronic remittances accounted for only 12% of total remittances. This in turn has limited the potential to make remittance services much more efficient and accessible to our communities, including here in Sabah.