Singapore 23 May 2001 - MAS held its 3rd Technology in Finance (TiF) Dialogue Session at the Suntec International Convention Centre. This TiF was jointly organized with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS). The theme for this session was "Electronic Personal Finance Services (e-PFS)" which focused on the demand side of the electonic financial services value chain and how financial institutions could leverage on the trends of consumers of e-PFS. Account Aggregation Services was the focal topic of discussion.

This TiF dialogue session is a continuation of our participatory forums to facilitate the exchange of views and opinions between MAS and industry players on key technological innovations pertinent to the financial industry. There were over 200 participants from 67 institutions from all sectors of the financial industry as well as law firms, consultants and service providers.

Enoch Ch'ng, Senior Director of the Market Infrastructure and Risk Advisory Dept (MIR) of MAS opened the session and encouraged innovation in e-PFS. He reiterated that MAS would continue to provide the right infrastructure and support for new initiatives in financial services. The first half of the session began with a presentation on the trends of Singapore e-PFS consumers. The subsequent half focussed on the provision of Account Aggregation services and the various issues which it raises. Representatives from the banking sector, legal firms and MAS presented their views on this service and the underlying technologies. The audience also participated in a lively exchange of views. As part of the exchange a straw poll on account aggregation was conducted, asking the participants (FIs only) to express their views on the regulatory option they would like to see MAS adopt. The feedback will be useful for MAS internal deliberations to formulate perspectives and regulatory positions.

Leon Chang, Director of the Market Infrastructure and Risk Advisory Dept (MIR) in MAS, closed the session by summarising the various discussion points and called for greater industry co-operation to work towards a common approach on how Account Aggregation services could be introduced. He also emphasised that consumer education was an important cornerstone of any electronic financial service offering.