BI drafts national payments system

BI drafts national payments system

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia has prepared a blue print for the
development of an efficient, secure and reliable national
payments system.

Bank Indonesia Governor J. Soedradjad Djiwandono said at an
annual bankers meeting last night that many central banks were
devoting greater attention to their payments systems.

"The payments system supports the creation of a more efficient
financial sector while improving the effectiveness of monetary
and banking policies," Soedradjad said.

He said the payments system had a considerable potential risk
that could affect national economic stability.

The blue print details matters related to institutional
organization, policies, legal provisions, infrastructure as well
as procedures and programs to be developed progressively.

In the short term, Bank Indonesia (the central bank) plans to
introduce an electronic clearing system here to expedite the
clearing process, which is still handled manually.

The manual clearing system caused inefficiencies in the
payments system because it depended on traffic and other factors,
he said.

The amount of funds cleared daily by the central bank has
increased tremendously from Rp 4.5 trillion in 1991 to Rp 25
trillion (US$10.5 billion) now.

Besides an electronic clearing system, the central bank is
also preparing a system for retail payments and electronic funds
transfers as part of a high-value payment system.

"As we all know, the main elements in the operation of a
national payments system are banks. Therefore, at this
opportunity, I would like to urge banks to play a more active
role in the development of this national payments system,"
Soedradjad said.

He said the existence of an efficient, secure and reliable
national payments system would benefit not only the banking
community but also the national economy. (rid)