Conclusion and Policy Issues

In the current increasingly competitive economic scenario climate, countries continuously seek avenues to improve their competitive edge. One of the avenues that countries could consider is the national payment system. In this light, various improvements to the payment system infrastructure and institutions have been made, both in retail and large-value payment systems. However, the technological innovations that had greatly influenced the shape of today's payment system could expose the users to new systemic risks. Therefore regulatory authorities always need to consider the balance between efficiency and security. Many investments have been made to implement e-payment schemes and to ensure their safe usage. Few, if any, quantitative empirical studies of the benefits this brought to the economy have been undertaken, however. Hence, quantitative empirical studies should be conducted soon in order to assess the economic benefits provided by e-payment schemes and to recommend further possible improvements.

Robust risk management and close cooperation with cross-border authorities are becoming more important as Malaysia's economy and financial sector become more integrated with the world. The current global financial crisis dictates some future developments in the financial sector. Accordingly, future enhancements to the payment system should emphasize this feature. The development of the domestic financial market has become increasingly important to maintain future global competitiveness. In this regard, the development of payment systems is important to support a stable domestic financial market that promotes the reinvestment of domestic savings in the domestic economy. Closer regional financial integration is also becoming increasingly important to enable surplus savings in the less developed Asian countries to be reinvested in the region, and to allow more synchronized monetary policy actions among the monetary authorities in the region.

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