71 / 246
69
BANKING & FINANCE
payment service providers to improve their
financial services in the country.
Secondly, the roadmap aims to involve a
greater adoption of digital payment solutions to
promote market interoperability and encourage
fair market competition. New and innovative
technology can lower barriers to adoption and
will offer secure and cost-effective payment
mechanisms for acceptance of digital payments
by merchants.
The last key area of the roadmap involves a
collective effort between AMBD and the industry
in enhancing public awareness and education,
geared towards building digital trust and market
confidence towards the acceptance of digital
payments. The roadmap represents the third
pillar of Brunei’s sustainable financial ecosystem
under its Financial Sector Blueprint 2016-2025.
In it, the roadmap serves to help provide a focal
point for financial services activity that will
support the Government’s efforts to catalyse a
cluster process of various services and facilitate
business activity.
One of the highlighted topics in the Financial
Sector Blueprint 2016-2025
is Information
Communications Technology (ICT). According
to statistics from the Authority for Info-
communications Technology Industry (AITI),
Bruneians are becoming progressively more
connected with increasing subscriptions for fixed
broadband and mobile Internet.
To further develop the ICT industry, AITI has
implemented various initiatives encompassing
areas such as accreditation, financial assistance,
promoting innovation and creativity through local
and international competitions. These initiatives,
combined with having tech-savvy citizens, will
help achieve AITI’s vision of producing a vibrant
and sustainable ICT industry.
ICT also plays an important role in the customer-
oriented financial services industry. As the ICT
industry grows, financial institutions can operate
more efficiently and effectively, providing
customers with greater convenience. The ease
and benefits of ICT far outweigh those of the
conventional paper-based processes.
Following the digital growth in Brunei over
the years, paper ledgers have been replaced
with electronic records, and payments are
increasingly being made through online
platforms. Rather than visiting financial
institutions’ branch premises or even ATMs,
customers manage their finance on the Internet
with their smartphones.
As such, AMBD has implemented policies
to help lay the foundation for modernising
payment arrangements in Brunei. In November
2014, AMBD implemented the Real-Time Gross
Settlement System (RTGS), an inter-bank funds
transfer system for large and urgent payments.
The system allows banks to transfer funds
for themselves and on behalf of customers in
real time. Meanwhile, the linked Automatic
Clearing House (ACH) which went live in May
2016 enables electronic clearing of cheques to
replace the manual cheque processing system
and enables other electronic payments.
These policies’ direction serves to complete
the automated clearing house and thereafter
an interbank retail payments infrastructure.
This helps in providing Brunei Darussalam
with a modern payment system, enabling
reduction in the use of paper-based payment
instruments, notably cheques. AMBD and the
Brunei government can then provide a lead in
transitioning their own payments from paper-
based to electronic payments, which is one of
the directions outlined in the Financial Sector
Blueprint 2016-2025.
With increased focus on ICT, there is a necessity
for risk management. Among the priorities taken
includes enhancing cyber-security.
In December 2015, AMBD issued ICT Risk
Management Guidelines to banks and
finance companies. The guidelines provide
a comprehensive guidance to financial
institutions on managing the risks associated
with technology-based systems and practices,
and on the relevant internationally recognised
standards.