And this is why it is so important that the “quick fix” has brought European prudential regulations on this kind of investment much closer to the regulations already in place in the United States and Switzerland. Investments of this kind will enable institutions to face up to any major potential competitors – not necessarily financial institutions – that might venture into the credit market with more guarantees of success. These firms – the big techs – possess an enormous amount of customer data, and they make highly effective use of those data for their own needs. Recent experience shows that these firms have caused disruption in the sectors they have entered, taking over the most profitable business segments and driving out existing firms. Naturally, the solution is not to curb technological progress that may benefit society in many ways, but to ensure that existing banks use these technologies to process the information they hold. In any event, the big techs will always have an information advantage, because their relations with their customers go beyond the financial sphere. This allows them, as large-scale purveyors of financial and non-financial products and services, to take advantage of economies of scope and network economies. Accordingly, and to prevent selection bias that can lead, for example, to the exclusion of certain social profiles, in the medium term comprehensive personal data regulations are needed, similar to those already in place in many countries’ central credit registers.
In circumstances of permanent changes in the infrastructure of financial markets, the supervisory role of the central bank regarding the payment system contributes to the maintenance of financial stability. Additionally, the systems for large payments contribute to the coordination of the direct participants in the national payment system, such as the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance, banks and clearing institutions, ensuring finality of all payments in the national economy. In this way, the National Bank maintains the vitality of the payment systems as one of the most important components of the financial and economic infrastructure. In terms of achieving the development and catalyst role, allow me to affirm the strategic approach of the National Bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Banking Association in the development of the national payment system of the Republic of Macedonia through the adoption and implementation of the Strategy for the development of the payment system of the Republic of Macedonia for the period 2013–2017. Our shared vision for the development of the payment systems of the Republic of Macedonia until 2017 is the modernization and improvement of the operations of payment systems through the application of high-tech achievements and gradual harmonization with the standards and rules of operation of payment systems in the European Union. In this way, we expect to increase the reliability and efficiency of payments and the acceptance of non-cash payment instruments, simultaneously ensuring gradual compliance with the requirements for integration into the Single European Payment Area – SEPA.