As a continuation of the Policy Forum on cybersecurity and financial inclusion, AFI is organizing its Regulatory Training – ‘Cybersecurity Challenges and Resilience Management’ on 2 and 3 August 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, for 72 participants from 34 member institutions. Co-organized together with Mastercard, AFI’s partner in Private-Public Sector Dialogue (PPD), and supported by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the training is focusing on providing an update on the cybersecurity threat landscape, its prevalence and impact, while demonstrating good practices and answering how best to develop resilient systems.

AFI’s Executive Director Dr. Alfred Hannig and Mr. Ravi Aurora, Mastercard’s Executive Director for Global Public Policy and Community Relations opened the training.

In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Hannig emphasized that capacity building training is a preferred service provided by AFI for its network members, with PPD initiatives as one of the key contributors, that have evolved over the past four years with some impressive results.

“Capacity building is a top priority for the next five years. AFI has matured and is now providing regulators with comprehensive, content driven trainings with practical solutions, which in turn strengthens the technical skill set of the staff of the AFI  member institutions and can now offer regulatory guidance” Dr. Hannig said, adding that the 2017 results of AFI’s Member Needs Assessment (MNA) show an impressive 88.2% rating for PPD partners, adding value to AFI’s capacity building events.

“AFI’s Member Needs Assessment (MNA) also shows an 88.0% rating on the knowledge gained from private sector partners contributing to implementing in-country policy changes. The demand for in depth technical training by PPD partners rated 86.7% amongst AFI members. Capacity building is one of the seven strategic pillars of AFI and trainings under the PPD initiative is an important service AFI provides to its members,” Dr. Hannig told the participants.

Digital Financial Services has been topping the list of important topics on which AFI members demand training, with cybersecurity being one of them.

“We hope this training will facilitate a better understanding of the risks, which will in turn lead to improved resilience management and robust risk frameworks so that regulations can continue to encourage innovation rather than stifle them because of cyber risks,” Dr. Hannig concluded.

To improve adoption of digital financial services for financial inclusion, regulators and policymakers need to build capacity and understanding to respond to risks associated with cybercrime, Mr. Ravi Aurora, MasterCard Executive Director for Global Community Affairs said in his opening remarks. “AFI’s PPD platform provides us with a unique opportunity to engage with this audience and bring pivotal components of the cybersecurity threat landscape and best practices to detect and respond to such threats,” Mr. Aurora emphasized.

The training is designed to include exercises, role plays, demonstrations to bring out the practical challenges, risks and solutions. Held for middle and senior level officials from AFI member institutions who are involved in working on the challenges of cybersecurity threats, the training is organized to help them develop related policies that help safeguard transactions and build resilient systems.

The Public – Private Dialogue was introduced in 2014 with the objective to establish a platform that will give policymakers an opportunity to explore the private sector perspectives that can contribute to policy development and for the private sector to share their challenges and needs with the financial regulators. The PPD platform builds upon AFI’s approach of bringing the knowledge and experience of financial inclusion leaders together for the benefit of all. The platform facilitates knowledge and expertise among private sector and a global network of 113-member institutions representing 94 countries.

Mastercard is one of five AFI PPD partners. With the partnership now in its 4th year, Mastercard works closely with the AFI Capacity Building and Policy team to constantly redesign the content and delivery of the trainings.