A Letter From… Bali
By Amanah Ramadiah
Elevating Suptech in the APAC Region
In early April, I participated in my second SEACEN Centre training course of the year. Hosted in my home country of Indonesia by Bank Indonesia, alongside the Bank of Japan, the course focused on a critical priority for the region: Emerging Technologies in Regulation and Supervision.
The Limits of Traditional Oversight in Real-Time Payment Systems
Throughout the week, the central bankers and regulators in the room grappled with a shared reality: as payment systems become real-time and highly connected, traditional oversight mechanisms are being pushed to their limits. We can no longer oversee the modern financial ecosystem with fragmented, reactive tools.
To effectively monitor these complex environments, authorities are increasingly turning to financial network analytics to gain real-time visibility into systemic risks before they materialize.
Suptech as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
During my sessions, I focused on a necessary paradigm shift. Suptech is no longer just a collection of support tools or discretionary IT expenditure; it must be recognised as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). It is the digital nervous system of modern financial supervision.
To safeguard stability and anticipate disruptions, we discussed how financial authorities must institutionalize Suptech as a strategic pillar. This means building to infrastructure-grade standards, ensuring sustainable funding, and designing for deep interoperability across borders and payment systems. Recognizing Suptech as DPI is not just a semantic shift, it is a strategic imperative.
Leaving Bali, it is incredibly encouraging to see the immense institutional will across the APAC region to elevate these supervisory capabilities. A huge thank you to Mark McKenzie and the SEACEN Centre for the invitation to speak. Spending my birthday week on the beach in Bali, surrounded by such a dedicated group of regional leaders made this trip incredibly memorable. I look forward to continuing these vital conversations as we build more resilient financial systems.
Best,
Amanah
