The Bank Negara Malaysia concept paper on financial technology, set to be the guidelines for fintech start-ups, is close to completion following feedback on an initial discussion paper released in July.

Bank Negara’s concept paper on the proposed fintech regulatory sandbox and provisions for fintech is close to completion and set for release by the end of the year, according to Bank of Negara governor, Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim.

“Fintech is an enabler for financial inclusion. If we use fintech, the cost of delivering financial inclusion to our people will be much lower, and more effective and efficient,” he said.

“Our concept paper is almost ready because we have received the feedback from the industry; when we finalise it, it will become a guideline for financial institutions.”

The guidelines will be released in the fourth quarter with the aim of boosting Malaysia’s financial inclusion statistics heading into 2017.

Speaking at the Global Symposium on Innovative Financial Inclusion, Ibrahim said that that financial inclusion was a global priority for addressing the inequality gap in Malaysia, we well as the protection of low-income earners and small businesses. Ibrahim said; “Technology is being used by financial institutions to improve operations…we view fintech as a transformative force that can help fill the gaps in terms of financial inclusions we see in the developing world.”

“We are optimistic that the number of people and firms without access to financial services will decline rapidly in the upcoming years.

“A succession of technology breakthroughts…presents significant opportunities to scale up financial inclusion.”

Ibrahim pointed to policymakers to play a strong role in helping financial institutions enable a financial stable environment which welcomed innovation in a technology-neutral and outcome-focused framework.

“Policymakers should also seek opportunities to promote the interoperability of supporting infrastructure for new financial innovations,” he said.

“This will preserve healthy competition and strong incentives for providers to continue innovating value-add solutions that meet the real needs of consumers.”