Donald Joshua Jaganathan: Digitization of remittances for migrant workers in Malaysia Welcoming remarks by Mr Donald Joshua Jaganathan, Assistant Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Project Greenback 2.0 Kota Kinabalu Dinner, Kota Kinabalu, 3 November 2018. * * * Yang Berbahagia Datuk Yeo Boon Hai, Datuk Bandar, Dewan Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, Dr. Firas Raad, Country Manager for Malaysia, World Bank Group, It is a pleasure for me to be here this evening. On behalf of Bank Negara Malaysia, I would like to express my appreciation to Dewan Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu for hosting Project Greenback 2.0 in this beautiful city; our Project partner, the World Bank, for your continued support and commitment to this important initiative; and to all of you who are gathered here today, for your hard work and dedication to ensure the Project achieves its objectives. I am also delighted that we have representatives from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Bank Indonesia with us tonight. Migrant remittances and Project Greenback 2.0 Mr. Juan Somavia, the former Director General of the International Labour Organization based in Switzerland once said “migrants are an asset to every country, where they bring their labour. Let us give them the dignity they deserve as human beings and the respect they deserve as workers”. Malaysia is a land of opportunity for many. Close to 1.8 million foreign workers, men and women, have left their loved ones behind to earn better income here. For many, they are simply chasing the “Malaysian dream”.
Currently, we have 21 remittance service providers offering digital remittance services, more than double the number 3 years ago. With the implementation electronic know-your-customer or e-KYC, consumers will be able to experience end-to-end digital remittance transactions. These are positive and exciting developments happening in our remittance market. Better public-private sector alliance to strengthen compliance Bank Negara Malaysia will continue to work closely with the industry to promote financial inclusion and this will be done primarily through the digitalization of remittance. Regulators also need to keep up with the times. We are taking a different approach this time – from ‘regulator instruct, industry do’ and ‘regulator knows best’, to creation of public-private sector alliance. It is vital to leverage on each other’s strengths and resources, not only to reap the benefits of technology, but also to overcome the emerging threats. We are all in this together. Greater harmonisation of regulatory framework on the remittance industry at the regional and 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  global levels is required to increase consistency in standards and reduce regulatory burdens on industry players. As a start, we have shared with other central banks on how we regulate the money services industry in Malaysia. This includes the transformation journey of MSB industry in Malaysia, our approach to innovation and technology, as well as monitoring of the whole industry. I believe that in the long term, harmonisation of rules will also foster innovation and spur regional expansion amongst industry players, while upholding the highest ethical and professional standards.