Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz
Governor, Bank Negara

Yang Berbahagia Dato' Mod Hata Robani
Managing Director, Malaysian Electronic Payment Systems

Representatives from Bank Negara
Heads of Financial Institutions
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz and everyone present here today to this important event ~ the launch of the National Internet Payment Gateway, Financial Process Exchange.

FPX, as it is better known among us, and which has bee entrusted to MEPS by Bank Negara Malaysia, is poised to not only enhance the needs of businesses and the financial industry in Malaysia but also that of the ASEAN region.

Users, via a single channel, will be able to link themselves to numerous Financial Institutions and relevent websites to perform real-time direct debit payment services.

Additionally, merchants and participating banks will be able to access to a wider range of customers and benefit from a more efficient, cost effective and secure payment infrastructure.

We strongly believe that FPX will provide tangible and intangible competitive edge to all industries. The financial, retail, manufacturing and other industries will be able to leverage on a set of common infrastructure and payment processing system. This will result in a reduction of operational costs and risks as funds are moved between established financial institutions, business entities and government agencies.

FPX will also help to increase operational efficiency of businesses via process automation and improved timing of orders and payments, hence knowledge of cash flow activities. This is in addition to providing a more proactive approach to risk management through authentication and certification of participants and their related transactions.

Last, but not least, FPX will remove the delay or time-lag associated with online payments; as payments are remitted into the merchant's account immediately after transactions are made, or otherwise known as straight-thru-processing.

Distinguished Guests .

FPX's pilot program was initiated this September with 6 banks - Bumiputra Commerce Bank, Public Bank, Bank Islam, Deutsche Bank, Hong Leong Bank Berhad and Malayan Banking Berhad. MEPS, as the national infrastructure service provider is responsible for performing all switching, routing, clearing and settlement for FPX transactions.

We currently have 20 merchants linked to FPX, including early adopters such as MASKargo, University Putra Malaysia, Jaring, Financial Link and Takaful. We expect all remaining Financial Institutions to be on-board by mid-2005.

I am proud to mention that we will make efforts to reach across the borders to position FPX to facilitate clearing of local and cross-border payments with other payment hubs within ASEAN in the near future. As part of this effort, future development would include an electronic Letter of Credit (eLC) to supplement the current paper-based Letter of Credit; as well as the provision of mobile and kiosks as transaction channels to supplement the current Internet Banking.

Finally, let me reiterate the core value of FPX. FPX, will broaden the array of choices, expanding the size of markets and ultimately, through competition, imporve the quality of existing goods and services. It provides a complete end-to-end business transaction, resourceful payment records, simplifies reconciliation and reduces risk of fund movements between established financial institutions via FPX.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

In conclusion, allow me to extend my sincere appreciation to Bank Negara, our partners ~ the Financial Institutions & Camtech who have been particularly instrumental in the initial development of FPX. It is their unwaivering support and commitment that has brought us here today.

Thank you.