MAS: The Digital Agenda

At the Singapore FinTech Festival 2024, newly promoted Managing Director at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Chia Der Jiun, reflects on the policy strategies that will guide his leadership and key priorities for the MAS on the direction of fintech, from payment systems and tokenization, AI, through to sustainable finance.

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His conversation with BBC World presenter Manisha Tank clarifies how the MAS is positioning itself at the forefront of financial innovation. This strategic approach that it plans to take.

COMMUNITY, COLLABORATION, AND CAPABILITY IN THE VISION

Chia began by emphasizing 3 pillars that shape MAS's strategy for the fintech sector in Singapore: community, collaboration, and capability. He highlighted that the fintech festival itself is a very vibrant example of the growing fintech community in Singapore.

He pointed to the broad participation from both startups and established firms. It is this growing ecosystem which is supported by initiatives such as the Global Financial Technology Network or GFTN, where it seeks to foster international fintech connections and to share resources across borders.

Cooperation features centrally in MAS's approach, graduating from initial experimentation toward scalable solutions.

MAS has implemented consortium-driven strategies that pool industry players and policymakers to tackle challenges, especially in areas such as digital assets and AI. This new perception is reflected in MAS's Project Guardian, which partners with industry leaders to unlock the potential of digital assets, and Project MindForge, addressing the specific challenges and governance needs that Generative AI presents.

PAYMENT SYSTEMS: BORDERLESS

On the payment front, Chia noted that Singapore's digital payment infrastructure is very strong, with very high levels of domestic adoption of digital IDs, QR codes, and the PayNow system. Still, he admitted there were ample challenges, especially in achieving interoperability amongst different payment schemes. NETS Group and Liquid Group are developing an interoperable QR payment solution-the aim is to simplify merchant onboarding and to provide universal customer access, regardless of which specific payment platform one uses.