KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is contemplating to adopt internationally acclaimed ‘blockchain’ technology solution to keep electronic financial transactions protected from cyber crimes.
SBP Banking Supervision Group Executive Director Inayat Hussain said that central banks of Canada and India have adopted the latest technology. “We may adopt the system to facilitate trades. Banks may approach the SBP and tell if they want to use the new technology anytime,” he said while speaking at the 15th Innovative Diebold Nixdorf e-banking 2017 conference organised by Total Communications in collaboration with Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) on Wednesday
He said the SBP was about to revive forums like CIOs to timely detect cyber crimes and threats and address them on time. He said the central bank updated its payment system rules in October 2016. “Since then we have provided permission to three entities to play their role as PSO/PSPs (Payment System Operators and Service Providers),” he said.
Initially banks were slow towards adopting new technology, but now they are doing it as per international practices, he added.
Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom Member Syed Ali Raza Shah claimed that the government would provide mobile Internet services to every nook and corner by December 2018. “The government has built infrastructure for IT and telecom services, and addressed the supply side issues nationwide. Now the private sector is needed to create demand for the services,” he said. The mobile broadband connectivity would play a critical role in boosting e-banking and e-commerce activities in the country, he added.
Soneri Bank Limited President and CEO Mohammad Aftab Manzoor urged bankers to understand need of customer and use technology accordingly, as “technology should be for customers and not customers for technology”.
Giesecke and Devrient Head of Distributor Management MEA, Currency Management Solutions, Nader Kashgari said regulators and central banks at globe are neutral on modes; digital and conventional financial transactions.
He said demand for cash was increasing by up to 8.5% per annum in developed economies. “85% financial transactions are done in cash worldwide. In our region, this is 98%,” he said.
National Bank of Pakistan’s Mudassir Khan said 90% of the digital transactions were being done for clearing utility bills and domestic remittances in Pakistan.