<span data-contrast="auto">Nearly two billion people across the globe lack access to formal financial services and approximately 90 percent of these people live in developing countries. They are excluded mainly due to four predominant barriers preventing accessibility:</span>
<ul>
 	<li><span data-contrast="auto">Living in rural areas</span></li>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="6" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Reduced access to digital technology</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"> </span></li>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="6" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Distrust in banks</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"> </span></li>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="6" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Lack of financial and digital literacy.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}">
</span></li>
</ul>
<span data-contrast="auto">Over the last four years, Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid have been working together to tackle financial exclusion to make sure no one gets left behind. In 2017, Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid launched a joint program, </span><a href="https://www.joa.je/branching-out-with-comic-relief/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i><span data-contrast="none">Branching Out: Financial Inclusion at the Margins</span></i></a><span data-contrast="auto">, that supports eight organizations through 19 different grants working towards financial inclusion in Zambia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. Since the launch of the program, hundreds of savings groups have been created, helping more than 124,000 people gain practical tools to better plan for the future, achieve long-term goals, and prepare for emergencies. Things were looking up.</span>

<span data-contrast="auto">Then the unexpected occurred in early 2020. COVID-19 presented – and still presents – a real danger to those who were already at the margins of society. </span>
<blockquote><span data-contrast="none">The challenges created by COVID-19 had a catalytic effect on accelerating FSPs' shift to digital delivery of financial services.</span></blockquote>
<span data-contrast="auto">In light of the pandemic, the </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">Branching Out</span></i><span data-contrast="auto"> program commissioned a study, </span><a href="https://res.torontocentre.org/guidedocs/Resilient%20and%20Inclusive%20Financial%20Services%20Delivery%20During%20COVID-19.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><i><span data-contrast="none">Resilient and Inclusive Financial Services Delivery During COVID-19</span></i><span data-contrast="none">,</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> through the Toronto Centre. The study examines crucial lessons learned in responding to the pandemic in 2020-21. The program interviewed organizations striving to support vulnerable people to gain access to financial services during this trying time to prevent vital progress from being undone.</span>

<span data-contrast="none">The study revealed two major findings:</span>
<ul>
 	<li><span data-contrast="none">Digitalization is key for resilience.</span></li>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="11" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Providing practical tools and guidance to financial services is needed now more than ever.</span></li>
</ul>
<span data-contrast="none">The report also shows that the challenges created by COVID-19 had a catalytic effect on accelerating financial service providers’ (FSPs) shift to digital delivery of financial services. When face-to-face service delivery was significantly reduced due to COVID-19 health protocols, resilient FSPs and countries (those experiencing little to no contraction in business) were those that were able to implement new measures to reduce in-person contact.</span>

<span data-contrast="none">The table below illustrates the changes in delivery channels used by FSPs. The y-axis indicates the percentage of FSPs surveyed (the total respondents also included a smaller number of supervisors and associations). Respondents are based in Zambia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.</span>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW151714652 BCX0" lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun" data-ccp-charstyle-defn="{&quot;ObjectId&quot;:&quot;e1c145c7-e2cb-47f2-9ba6-6c688a134605|117&quot;,&quot;ClassId&quot;:1073872969,&quot;Properties&quot;:[134233614,&quot;true&quot;,201340122,&quot;1&quot;,469775450,&quot;normaltextrun&quot;,469778129,&quot;normaltextrun&quot;,469778324,&quot;Default Paragraph Font&quot;]}">Percentage </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun">of FSP</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun"> Respondents</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun">Using</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun"> the</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="normaltextrun"> Delivery Channel Type</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW151714652 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:2,&quot;335551620&quot;:2,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"> </span></h4>
<img class="wp-image-43599 aligncenter" src="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/Screen-Shot-2021-12-07-at-2.04.01-PM.png" alt="" width="965" height="480" />
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>(Credit: Toronto Centre)</em></p>
<span data-contrast="none">The uptake of digitalization in each of the countries we surveyed was slow before the pandemic. This could be due to the barriers individuals face, such as: </span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"> </span>
<ul>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="10" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Limited access to the technology needed for digital access, especially for women and those in rural areas</span></li>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="10" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">The level of digital literacy, low before COVID-19 in all three countries, presented a barrier for some groups, especially for women and rural populations</span></li>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="10" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">Issues of trust and concerns around data privacy and transparency were hindrances to quick adoption of digital delivery channels.</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="pullquote--right"><span data-contrast="none">Progress of digitalization and infrastructure at the country level seemed to influence which delivery channels were emphasized during the pandemic.</span></blockquote>
<span data-contrast="none">During the pandemic, progress of digitalization and infrastructure at the country level seemed to influence which delivery channels were emphasized. For example, FSPs in Zambia saw a rise in usage of mobile banking services from 26 percent pre-pandemic to 36 percent during the pandemic.</span><span data-contrast="auto"> In addition to this, Zambia FSPs used agents more to navigate the social distancing restrictions and to reach localized communities – as it was deemed more effective than bank branches.</span>

<span data-contrast="none">In Rwanda, the uptake of mobile banking before the pandemic was similar to that of Zambia, though Rwandan usage was bolstered by government efforts towards creating a “cashless society,” which further promoted non-face-to-face services. Rwanda FSPs, therefore, focused their efforts on mobile and internet banking.</span>

<span data-contrast="none">In Sierra Leone, internet banking rose from 7 percent to 17 percent during the pandemic – the largest increase seen in the report. However, because the country had faced similar challenges during the outbreak of Ebola, FSPs also managed to maintain a high level of face-to-face delivery, due to having the existing infrastructure to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions, such as social distancing and strict health and safety protocols. The experience that health authorities in Sierra Leone gained from the Ebola outbreak helped them prepare for COVID-19 even when little information was available.</span>
<h2>What Does the Digitalization of Financial Services Mean for Those at Risk of Financial Exclusion?</h2>
<span data-contrast="none">The report found that in many cases the digitalization of financial services, accompanied by greater digital literacy and accessibility, has been a promising development in inclusive finance. Consumer associations revealed that one of the greatest impacts of this transition has been in access to repayment modalities which would otherwise have been impossible and could affect customer access to future credit as well as FSPs’ willingness to lend to affected groups.</span>
<blockquote class="pullquote--left">There is a real danger that more people could be left behind if these barriers aren’t addressed.</blockquote>
<span data-contrast="none">However, while digitalization can be seen as a natural progression that has been bolstered by the conditions created by the pandemic, barriers persist</span><span data-contrast="auto">,</span><span data-contrast="none"> including a lack of internet access and low financial and digital literacy. There is a real danger that more people could be left behind if these aren’t addressed. </span>
<h2>Steps Needed for Continued Progress in Financial Inclusion</h2>
<span data-contrast="auto">Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid identified the following steps FSPs and regulatory bodies should take to continue making progress in financial inclusion:</span>
<ul>
 	<li><span data-contrast="auto">Support the shift to increased digitalization to ensure it expands the reach of financial inclusion. </span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"> </span></li>
 	<li><span data-contrast="auto">Increase communication at the policy level and share risk assessments with FSPs to allow for proper planning and strategy.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}">
</span></span></span></li>
 	<li><span data-contrast="auto">Set supervisory expectations for FSPs, through best practice guidelines, on the enhanced risk management measures that FSPs should take in ramping up non-face-to-face delivery. </span></li>
 	<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="5" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="auto">Enhance information-gathering for effective supervision of these delivery channels as FSPs try out innovative approaches. </span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}"> </span></li>
</ul>
<span data-contrast="none">Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid’s aim has always been to ensure that those in the most rural communities don’t get left behind when it comes to accessing financial services. As a result of </span><a href="https://res.torontocentre.org/guidedocs/Resilient%20and%20Inclusive%20Financial%20Services%20Delivery%20During%20COVID-19.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span data-contrast="none">this report</span></a><span data-contrast="none"> and its findings, the </span><i><span data-contrast="none">Branching Out</span></i><span data-contrast="none"> program will continue its vital work to support more people to understand and take control of their finances, get back on their feet, and plan for their future.</span>

Furthering Digitalization’s Potential for Financial Inclusion: Insights from Sub-Saharan FSPs, Supervisors, and Associations

Trust of Data Usage, Sources, and Decisioning: Perspectives From Rwandan Mobile Money Users

Financial services play an important contributing role to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-7660.00125" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women's economic empowerment</a>. Women who have access to bank accounts, savings mechanisms, and other financial services may be better able to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275140814_The_Role_of_Microcredit_Program_on_Women_Empowerment_Empirical_Evidence_from_Rural_Bangladesh" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">control their earnings and undertake personal and productive expenditures</a>. They may also be able to make choices about their <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/687578" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">time and their autonomy over decision-making</a>, ranging from employment to marriage to the use of contraception. Financial services may also contribute to <a href="https://cesr.usc.edu/sites/default/files/IDRC_Report_Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">non-economic benefits </a>such as increased self-efficacy and self-worth, confidence, and increased solidarity within a woman’s network. But many of these potential benefits are only achievable if <a href="https://www.povertyactionlab.org/policy-insight/designing-financial-services-and-social-protection-programs-enhance-womens-economic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women are able to maintain control</a> over resources.

What are the mechanisms to ensure that women retain control over resources? Financial services design and delivery plays a part. But even more important is the need to understand and address the social and gender norms that influence women’s participation in the economy and the financial system.

Social and gender norms are key determinants of behaviors and roles. Social norms are the implicit and informal rules, attitudes, behaviors, and values that the majority accept and follow. <a href="https://www.alignplatform.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/align_-_gender_power_and_progress_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gender norms</a> are a subset of social norms that pertain to how people of a particular gender are expected to behave. Gender norms <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.472.6354" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">can be seen</a> in the division of labor and allocation of resources within and without a household, as well as in the expectations placed on men and women, which foster the development of different abilities, attitudes, and desires. For <a href="https://www.alignplatform.org/resources/intersectionality-gender-norms-conversation-truechilds-riki-wilchins" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">everyone</a>, norms are “like invisible ‘guard rails’ that shape and narrow people’s thinking, behaviors, and opportunities. [N]orms often show up as a kind of negative power, as absence rather than presence: doors that just didn’t open, choices that couldn’t be made, opportunities that just seemed out of reach." <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X04000750" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Norms matter</a> because they determine behaviors and control over household resources, which shape demand for financial services.
<blockquote class="pullquote--right">This paper reviews the emerging evidence on social and gender norms and financial inclusion.</blockquote>
This paper reviews the emerging evidence on social and gender norms and financial inclusion. Norms are increasingly recognized as a key constraint to women’s financial inclusion — one that may help explain the persistent gender gaps in bank account and, in some regions, mobile money ownership, as well as the fact that <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hd_perspectives_gsni.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">progress toward gender equality is slowing</a> globally. It is time to move away from gender-blind or <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs/">gender-aware approaches</a> to financial services toward a gender-transformative approach that explicitly creates gender-equal financial systems by <a href="https://www.ifpri.org/publication/beyond-access-gender-transformative-financial-inclusion-agriculture-and-entrepreneurship" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">embedding pathways for engagement</a> on equal terms.

Without gender norm transformation, it is unlikely that women’s financial inclusion will lead to meaningful economic empowerment. However, social and gender norms are complex, hyper-local, and difficult to measure. As such, there is no one “right” way to assess or change norms, though more evidence is needed to identify whether global lessons and approaches can lead to sustainable, systemic change.
<blockquote class="pullquote--right">There is no one “right” way to assess or change norms.</blockquote>
This paper brings together the evidence of what is known on norms and financial inclusion and uses cases to demonstrate aspects of and approaches to addressing discriminatory norms throughout the financial system. It also highlights many remaining areas for further inquiry on norms and financial services that would enable improved women’s economic empowerment.

Normative Constraints to Women’s Financial Inclusion: What We Know and What We Need to Know

In the 12-plus years CFI has worked on consumer protection, we’ve seen again and again the importance of sound regulation and market conduct. While it’s not the only tool in the consumer protection playbook, sound regulation is necessary because even when providers are well-intentioned, it’s extremely difficult for “responsible” players to take action in an unfavorable environment.

As readers of this blog know, working with regulators can be time and labor intensive, but when successful, the impact can be immense. This post focuses on <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-smart-campaign-and-the-mastercard-foundation-team-up-to-tackle-the-next-wave-of-consumer-protection-challenges-in-financial-services/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CFI’s multi-year initiative</a> in several countries in the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo – and draws lessons from our work in Benin, in particular, where CFI’s engagement was multi-faceted. In particular, we focus on the support provided to the national supervisory body of Benin, the <a href="https://www.anssfd.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agence Nationale de Surveillance des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés</a> (ANSSFD).
<h2>The Need to Strengthen Market Conduct Supervision: The Case of West Africa</h2>
WAEMU countries experience a relatively complex supervisory environment, with multiple entities sharing supervisory responsibilities. The microfinance sector is supervised by the Central Bank of the West African States (BCEAO), the Banking Commission of WAEMU (a specialized regional entity overseeing banking sector) at the regional level, and a specialized supervisory body under the ministry of finance in each WAEMU member country. The Banking Commission of WAEMU only oversees part of the microfinance sector (institutions whose total loans/deposits exceeds 2 billion CFA francs [about $3.3 million] for two consecutive years). Unlike the Banking Commission, specialized national supervisory bodies have the responsibility to supervise the whole microfinance sector in each country.

Supervision in the WAEMU region focuses on prudential regulation, ensuring the soundness and stability of the financial system. However, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudential_regulation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prudential supervision</a> in itself is insufficient for detecting and addressing improper conduct of financial service providers vis-à-vis their clients. As such, market conduct supervision is an important complement to prudential regulation. Even globally, the interest for and proven practices around market conduct regulation and supervision are fairly recent, with the 2008 global financial crisis being a notable trigger. While there have been some recent efforts to incorporate aspects of market conduct supervision in the region – including the creation of local public ombudsman offices (the OQSF) in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire and the verifications related to <a href="https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2946/related-materials" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">disclosure practices and compliance with interest caps</a> – this type of supervision is relatively new to the WAEMU region.
<blockquote>Market conduct supervision is an important complement to prudential regulation.</blockquote>
Benin is no exception. The focus on prudential regulation opens the door for poor consumer protection practices and a weak culture of self-regulation among financial institutions, as evidenced by low levels of consumer protection diagnostics and implementation of codes of conduct. The context in Benin is further complicated by a high prevalence of non-regulated financial service providers (FSPs). A 2015 unpublished survey by the ANSSFD indicated that about two-thirds of microfinance institutions operating in Benin were not regulated and operating without a license. The situation is also exacerbated by <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?locations=BJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">low literacy levels</a> in the country, putting microfinance customers at heightened risk for fraud and unfair practices by financial institutions.
<h2>CFI’s Approach Builds on Client Voices Research</h2>
CFI’s <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/client-voices-benin-country-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">client voices research</a> in Benin indicated that about 17 percent of former microfinance clients surveyed were unable to withdraw part or all their savings. It also highlighted that late payers experienced a number of serious harms, such as shaming, confiscation of goods, requests for bribes, and involvement of police in debt collection as intimidation tactics. About one-third of respondents ignored how much they will pay in total for their loans and only 12 percent knew the interest rate. In addition, a vast majority of clients (86 percent) were not informed about where to complain.

Responding to these realities, the Smart Campaign, a consumer protection initiative housed at CFI, began a targeted approach in 2016 to build a more effective client protection ecosystem in five African markets. CFI engaged with ANSSFD, the supervisory body with the broadest mandate and most in need of resources. The two-year initiative in Benin was targeted at identifying and addressing gaps in market conduct supervision and mainstreaming market conduct supervision into Benin’s supervision system. The new interventions aimed at, among other things, supporting financial regulators to strengthen their frameworks and increase their capacity to conduct sound supervision.
<blockquote>The initiative in Benin was targeted at identifying and addressing gaps in market conduct supervision and mainstreaming it.</blockquote>
The campaign also engaged with regulators in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Benin and Rwanda. Each of these countries presented unique contexts with different consumer protection priorities, leading to bespoke interventions, including mystery shopping in Nigeria, digitization of complaint handling systems in Ghana and Uganda, and support for developing consumer protection regulations for tier IV institutions in Uganda.
<h2>Ingredients for a Successful Intervention: Lessons Learned</h2>
Though it’s too early to see the full benefits of this support, we learned several lessons from the implementation process in Benin. Overall, the success of such support depends largely on the capacity to change the behavior of supervisors and increase their ownership of the tools and approaches developed during the course of the program. Below we outline several factors that can help positively influence the behavior change and ownership necessary for success.
<h3>Learning by Doing</h3>
CFI’s approach involved trainings and post-training technical assistance on market conduct supervision. It was designed such that inspectors led the development of tools that they could integrate into their existing work. With some support from CFI, the inspectors developed a series of inspection sheets addressing each of the <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/consumer-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Client Protection Principles</a> to be used during their on-site visits. By doing so, they incorporated the new inspection sheets into their existing practices, reducing the extent of change management needed.
<h3>Leadership Engagement</h3>
Buy-in and active participation by leadership is key to gaining traction for change. In 2019, following the training and technical assistance activities, the general manager of ANSSFD issued a memorandum to make the new consumer protection inspection sheets mandatory for all inspection missions. The issuance of the memorandum addressed both resistance to change (on the part of a minority of inspectors) and inconsistent use of tools within ANSSFD (tools were partly used or not used at all in some inspection missions prior to the memorandum). The commitment of the general manager was essential to ensuring widespread use of the new inspection sheets and improving oversight of consumer protection practices.
<h3>Change Takes Time</h3>
The timeline for regulator or supervisor engagements must allow for multiple iterations. CFI’s engagements have found that behavior change and adoption of new techniques generally require multiple cycles of “test, learn, adjust.” In Benin, it took two years to see some tangible results.
<h3>Select Budget-Appropriate Supervisory Tools</h3>
Changing supervisory practices is likely to have significant budget implications, including costs associated with technical assistance or the adoption of new supervision tools, such as <a href="https://www.cgap.org/research/publication/mystery-shopping-financial-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mystery shopping</a> and other survey methods. Tools and approaches should be proportionate with what fits for the supervisor, both technically and financially. Technical assistance providers should offer all necessary information on the costs and benefits of tools and make sure that the beneficiary agency makes informed decisions about the tools they choose to retain. In Benin, we did not recommend doing additional surveys or tools. Rather, we agreed to have an inspector that solely focuses on consumer protection and market conduct during routine inspection missions.
<h3>Progress, but the Journey is Not Yet Complete</h3>
As of today, all microfinance inspectors in Benin have been trained on market conduct supervision and the supervision tools are included in the inspection package of ANSSFD. All recent inspection reports include a market conduct section focused on consumer protection. This is tremendous progress and a great step forward.
<blockquote>All recent inspection reports include a market conduct section focused on consumer protection.</blockquote>
The promising results observed in Benin can serve as a model for other countries in the WAEMU region. The shared regulation among the countries should make it possible to leverage the process and tools developed for Benin to replicate this success in other countries. CFI held a workshop in October 2019 to share ANSSFD’s experience with sister supervisory agencies from Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Togo, which are facing similar gaps in market conduct supervision. Encouraging and guiding supervisory agencies to adopt market conduct supervision and the Client Protection Principles into their practices (as further outlined in CFI’s <a href="https://centerforfinancialinclusion.org/handbook-on-consumer-protection-for-inclusive-finance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Handbook on Consumer Protection for Inclusive Finance</a>) would contribute to creating market conditions that are fair, protection regimes that are enforceable, and better outcomes for vulnerable customers.

<em>We’d like to thank the <a href="https://mastercardfdn.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mastercard Foundation</a> for partnering with us on this journey.</em>

Improving Consumer Protection Market Conduct: Lessons Learned in Benin

CFI has begun the new year with many developments and shifts in our agenda. We have been working hard behind the scenes to position our strategy where inclusive finance can have an important role on issues that are most pressing for the lives of the poor. As we have been undertaking this strategy refresh – looking both internally and externally to identify what is critical for the inclusive finance field – we have identified several important areas of focus. At this juncture, we would like to share how our thinking is evolving with regard to our role and future focus priorities.
<h2><strong>First, we want to use this opportunity to relay our continued commitment to improved consumer protections for people at the base of the pyramid.</strong></h2>
CFI has been supporting the Smart Campaign for more than 10 years. This initiative has had many achievements, most notably, its role in defining a set of standards, the Client Protection Principles, which guide how providers adapt their internal practices and how regulators should think about consumer protection regulation and the tools they use to monitor market conduct. We expect to continue to evolve CFI’s work on consumer protection by expanding our research and analysis of how the digital economy is presenting new risks for consumers. We also plan on expanding our work with regulators on both regulation and market conduct.
<blockquote>Consumer protection in the digital economy will be a focus area for CFI research and analysis.</blockquote>
We anticipate Smart Campaign’s role will be that of an industry initiative: it will continue to be supported by the many actors that are part of that community. CFI’s role in the Campaign will be discussed in an upcoming steering committee meeting and will align with CFI’s broader strategic shifts.
<h2><strong>Second, we want to double-down on our advocacy role in protecting and empowering customers.</strong></h2>
We believe there are few organizations in the inclusive finance field that truly prioritize the customer voice and perspectives. Our role is doing just that. Over the years we have used many tools to listen to customers and have used these listening exercises to inform our policy recommendations and our consumer protection standards, and we want to continue to do this. In 2019, we published the Client Voice Rwanda which used surveys and focus groups to better understand Rwandans experiences with mobile money, and our ongoing work in Cambodia is testing IVR technology as a means of collecting client feedback. And we have tested many ways to share information with customers to improve their ability to make informed decisions. In the past year, we ran consumer awareness campaigns in Ghana, Benin, and Uganda using different engagement techniques, such as social media videos, radio dramas and interviews, and journalist competitions, to inform consumers about their rights and responsibilities when accessing financial services.
<h2><strong>Third, we want to elevate the work that will be most impactful on the poor: financial services that help the poor deal with and adapt to climate change, gender inequality, and data opportunities and risks.</strong></h2>
This shift does not mean we stop working with providers or on important market infrastructure issues. It means that given resource limitations, each institution that is focusing on inclusive finance needs to ensure that its focus areas have a direct line of sight on how this work will lead to improved outcomes for the poor. For CFI, we have identified three key areas of focus that we will add to our agenda to help us have a more impactful influence toward improved customer outcomes. These areas are doing additional research on how financial services can both reduce risks and help customers adapt to the reality of climate change, doing additional research and experimentation on how to address the remaining policy and norms barriers that impede progress on women’s participation in the formal financial system, and better understanding the risks and opportunities that the new digital economy and the use of data pose for customers and identifying innovative solutions for managing those risks through regulation, data practices by providers, and industry wide solutions.
<h2><strong>Finally, we want to refine our influence model to improve our impact.</strong></h2>
As an independent global think tank housed at Accion, we know we must continue to partner to have leverage. We want to continue to build partnerships with like-minded organizations to test new ideas, conduct research, share and advocate. As in the past, we strongly believe that collaboration is the key to improving our impact, and we will continue to work together to scale our learnings.
<blockquote>I am excited to see the opportunities that lay ahead for CFI and inclusive finance.</blockquote>
After a few months on the job, I am excited to see the opportunities that lay ahead for CFI and for the inclusive finance field and hope that you will be a part of this journey.

New Decade, New Focus Areas: CFI's Role in an Evolving Space

Today there are close to 700 million mobile money accounts registered worldwide — a number that, if it were a population, would rank as the world’s third-largest country. East Africa continues to lead in digital financial innovations as well as account usage, with two-thirds of the combined adult populations of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda actively using mobile money. With the proliferation of mobile financial services, particularly among underserved populations, it is vital that users be treated fairly and with dignity. In the momentum to define responsible digital finance and recognize providers of high-quality financial services, the industry must not forget the consumer.
<h1>Client Voices: Why We Listened</h1>
<a href="/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign/">The Smart Campaign</a>, a global initiative to create an environment in which financial services are delivered safely and responsibly to low-income clients, has long recognized that client perspectives are often underrepresented in consumer protection discussions. With the Client Voices Project, the Campaign questions whether the industry’s assumptions about what constitutes problematic treatment rightly reflect what clients themselves worry about.

The dual objectives of the project are to solicit input from low-income clients about what they consider good and bad treatment in their interactions with financial service providers and to assess the prevalence of consumer protection problems among these clients, using quantitative surveys. The project is designed to act as a catalyst for financial service providers, regulators, industry associations, consumer advocacy groups, and others to improve client protection in ways that are grounded in client feedback.
<h1>Major Findings</h1>
Based on a survey of over 1,200 people in three districts in Rwanda, this report delves into the experiences of individuals who use digital financial services (DFS), the main client protection issues they are concerned about, and the impact and prevalence of negative experiences. We find that mobile money enjoys a high degree of satisfaction and trust from clients in Rwanda, even though 40 percent of clients report being targeted by fraudulent schemes, which have become increasingly sophisticated.
<blockquote>Customers report wising up to scams and fraud, but with a continuous influx of new mobile money users and fraudsters who innovate quickly, the threat is real and constant. Fraud represents the greatest potential to damage customer trust and engagement with mobile money in Rwanda.</blockquote>
However, there are many ways that DFS operations and practices can be improved to better protect clients and strengthen trust. Client recourse mechanisms, for example, represent an important area for improvement: many clients shared that they feel helpless and unsure about what to do after realizing they have been duped. Additionally, for business models that rely more on the mobile interface than on human interaction, clients increasingly rely on agents for information and guidance. This presents an opportunity to provide better service, as well as a risk for poor client treatment.

We hope that providers, industry associations, support organizations, regulators, consumer protection advocates, and clients can benefit from these findings to create a stronger, more inclusive client protection ecosystem. We offer specific recommendations for many of these stakeholders.

Client Voices: Rwandans Speak on Digital Financial Services

The <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign/">Smart Campaign</a>'s senior director discussed the motivation behind the survey and forthcoming report with <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/"><em>The New Times</em></a>, a leading Rwandan news provider.

“We want all stakeholders to understand the actual experiences and concerns of the clients they are serving, protecting or advocating for, because there hasn't been a comprehensive survey underpinning the conduct of this digital financial service before,” <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/people/alexandra-rizzi/">Rizzi</a> said.

Fraud was a "major problem" for about 40 percent of respondents (with 10 percent falling victim themselves), and while nearly 90 percent trust mobile money services, that trust extends to specific services, namely person-to-person (P2P) transfers. There are approximately 11 million mobile money users in Rwanda.

The report will be available for download on this site in the coming weeks. The results were discussed at a workshop of regulators in the Rwandan capital Kigali in March and will be discussed at the <a href="https://sptf.info/annual-meetings/2019-summit-inclusive-digital-future">Inclusive Digital Future Summit</a> in Nairobi in June 2019.

Read the<a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/business/mobile-money-services-enjoy-public-confidence-fraud-remains-threat-survey-reveals"> full article</a> and learn more about the <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/tools-a-resources/1075">Client Voices Project</a>.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

In The New Times: Smart Campaign's Alex Rizzi Interviewed About Client Voices Project Survey in Rwanda

If you had to embark on a journey similar to that of the 65 million people who are currently forcibly displaced, what would you bring? Most likely among your provisions would be a smartphone. Phones are the contemporary map and compass, a gateway to critical information, a means for keeping in touch with loved ones, and a financial toolkit. <a href="http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Importance-of-mobile-for-refugees_a-landscape-of-new-services-and-approaches.pdf">More and more</a>, aid workers are witnessing refugees arriving at camps with smartphones. For both the refugee journey and the post-journey settlement process, a phone can be vital. With this in mind, you might not be surprised to learn that mobile money usage among refugees, including for cash transfers from governments and NGOs, is on the rise.

GSMA reports that the end of 2015, there were <a href="http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SOTIR_2015.pdf">271 operating mobile money systems</a> across 93 countries, with over 400 million registered accounts globally. At the same time, the Center for Global Development <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">estimates</a> that the vast majority of aid to refugees is given in monetary form. Most aid is provided either through vouchers that can be used for specific purchases or in-kind donations of items like blankets, heaters, and bags of rice. There’s growing evidence suggesting that not only are cash aid transfers <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">superior to vouchers and in-kind aid</a>, but that mobile money is the <a href="http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Importance-of-mobile-for-refugees_a-landscape-of-new-services-and-approaches.pdf">optimal vehicle for cash transfers</a>.

Most refugees use mobile phones extensively, with higher internet usage rates than the general population, according to a study from the Oxford University Humanitarian Innovation Project, “<a href="https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/refugeeeconomies">Refugee Economies: Rethinking Popular Assumptions</a>”. In some cases refugees even buy a new SIM card <a href="https://www.trulioo.com/blog/financial-support-for-refugees-displaced-people/">each time they enter a new country</a> in order to navigate their way to the next border. Governments and aid agencies are recognizing this trend and re-thinking how they support this vulnerable population. And for their part, mobile network operators (MNOs) increasingly see refugees as a new, viable customer base as well as an opportunity to contribute services to highly vulnerable people.

A <a href="http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Importance-of-mobile-for-refugees_a-landscape-of-new-services-and-approaches.pdf">new report from GSMA</a> offers a handful of vignettes that illustrate the growing pervasiveness of phone-based financial services in refugee communities:
<ul>
 	<li>In Pakistan, which has the third-largest refugee community in the world, the government is the primary source of cash assistance for displaced individuals, and the majority of cash transfers are completed via mobile money. Four of the market’s top five MNOs are active participants in the mobile money disbursement programs.</li>
 	<li>In Uganda, GSMA surveyed refugees both in and outside camps and found that almost half of them used mobile money, mainly to receive remittances from family and friends. Recently, the MNO Orange Uganda built a tower in the Nakivale camp to support the launch of its mobile money service targeting the refugee population.</li>
 	<li>Refugees in Rwanda are regular users of mobile money. Some are even working as mobile money agents.</li>
</ul>
Mobile money presents refugees with deepening financial inclusion opportunities. Large barriers persist to refugees adopting and using such services, but when given the opportunity, refugees and internally displaced populations use mobile money in the same ways that other populations do: for remittances, person-to-person payments, merchant payments, loans, and savings.

Potentially most crucial for refugees are international remittances, either to send money home or to receive money from home. The international remittances market has been disrupted by mobile money in recent years, with transfers via phone <a href="http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/The-Importance-of-mobile-for-refugees_a-landscape-of-new-services-and-approaches.pdf">21 percent</a> cheaper on average than standard money transfer operations. And such services are spreading fast. In fact, international remittances are the fastest-growing mobile money service. One can now send international remittances via mobile money between more than 20 countries worldwide, particularly in regional markets, i.e., between neighboring countries. High rates of adoption are seen in several markets in which these services recently launched, including Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Senegal.

Whether in settlement camps or post-settlement, refugees seek to quickly build new lives. To this end, they use person-to-person and merchant payments not only for consumption purposes, but also as livelihood-building and business tools. Eighty-nine percent of refugees in Kampala use their mobile phones to generate income, according to “Rethinking Popular Assumptions”. Phones can help refugees find employment, access market information, and run micro-businesses. A mobile money ecosystem also presents employment opportunities for ancillary services like selling phone charging services, mobile phone repair, and serving as mobile money agents. Mobile money empowers refugees to create or boost existing markets – for food, clothing, financial services, and more.

In addition to mobile money, we’ve seen an array of initiatives from governments and NGOs that pair aid with other digital financial services:
<ul>
 	<li>Lebanon hosts the most refugees per capita in the world with 1.2 million individuals. Aid organizations like the International Rescue Committee (IRC) <a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/11/15/the-future-of-refugee-financial-inclusion/">issue ATM cards</a> for refugees to access cash benefits, taking advantage of the fully-functioning distribution networks of merchants and ATMs available in the country.</li>
 	<li>In Syria, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwi_nNidh47SAhUqw1QKHUnmAIQQFggcMAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcfi-blog.org%2F2016%2F11%2F15%2Fthe-future-of-refugee-financial-inclusion%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNECigBXaYLGABweP1wabi4C7_sZdA&amp;sig2=CIjwqfD6abOcndsGBat1RA">developed a small fleet</a> of mobile lending units to reach clients in areas without financial infrastructure.</li>
 	<li>On the island of Lesbos, Greece, Mercy Corps <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">offers refugees debit cards</a> that connect to a bank account to help them build banking histories.</li>
 	<li>The Digital Finance Institute launched the <a href="http://www.digitalfinanceinstitute.org/?post_projects=childrens-adventure-camps">Banking on Refugees project</a> which is piloting a cloud-based branchless bank that harnesses biometric identification and digital payment solutions, including prepaid cards and e-wallets.</li>
</ul>
However, a number of challenges impede the spread of mobile money-based humanitarian aid for refugees, as well as their uptake of broader mobile money services. These can come from both the supply and demand side. In some environments the mobile money ecosystem is still too nascent and not yet a viable option. In others, demand is weak, either because services are not sufficiently convenient or robust, or because of lack of customer awareness or familiarity. In its recent study, GSMA found that for refugees using mobile money, convenience and connectivity was more important than familiarity with the service, pointing to the importance of service and agent coverage and agent liquidity.

Proof of identity also poses a serious issue. <a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/11/15/the-future-of-refugee-financial-inclusion/">As discussed on this blog previously</a>, refugees often leave their home country without identity documentation, and sometimes even when they have it, the host country government may not have the technology and data needed to authenticate these documents. Lack of identification can impede refugees from buying SIM cards, owning mobile phones, and accessing mobile money and other financial services.

UNHCR in Jordan is mitigating this problem using biometrics. Refugees in the UNHCR program in Jordan <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">receive iris scans</a> which are stored in the cloud. The UNHCR offers bank accounts for refugees through the Cairo Amman Bank. When refugees arrive at the bank’s ATMs, they look into a set of binoculars that scans and verifies their eyes, and they’re able to withdraw the money in their name.

Refugees are also often faced with the loss of the banking and credit histories they built in their home countries. We’ve <a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/11/15/the-future-of-refugee-financial-inclusion/">advocated before for credit history portability</a> for refugees, allowing refugees to be able to apply preexisting credit histories in the host country and, if they return home, to bring credit histories accumulated in host countries back with them.

Trulioo, a company that works in identity verification, <a href="https://www.trulioo.com/blog/financial-support-for-refugees-displaced-people/">asserts the potential</a> to use an individual’s cyber identity for identity verification and for enabling access to credit and other financial services. MNOs could serve as centralized, cross-border identifiers, by harnessing the user data and transaction histories linked to specific SIM cards. Additionally, aggregation of an individual’s online interactions, including of mobile money and online transactions could serve in place of credit histories to open financial doors.

But often it all comes back to the initial distribution of relief payments, where governments, NGOs, MNOs, and banks too often conduct business as usual. Although buy-in and coordination from these stakeholders is essential, many remain uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or unconvinced about the merits of cash transfers instead of vouchers or donated items, or about the merits of mobile money. Elizabeth MacBride of Quartz <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">writes</a>, “One of the obstacles to donors shifting their giving to cash has been that the NGO edifice that funnels their money is built to resist its own destruction.” Indeed, mobile money cash transfers might be a more efficient and effective means to offer refugees crucial resources, but there are vested interests in the status quo. For example, in 2013 USAID shipped <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">1.4 million metric tons</a> of food aid as part of the World Food Program. To accomplish this, roughly $70 million was spent on shipping. Food sellers and shippers are likely to be strong advocates of retaining the in-kind system.

A number of studies suggest that not only is cash aid more efficient than other aid forms, it’s ultimately more helpful for refugees. One study estimates that the savings on administration gleaned from the more efficient digital cash transfer programs could help the aid reach 30 percent more people for the same price. In 2014 IRC, in partnership with Yale and the University of Brasilia, published a rigorous evaluation of emergency cash distribution for refugees with the core finding that refugees <a href="http://mastercardcenter.org/action/mobile-money-transforming-financial-inclusion-refugees/">used the money for food as intended</a>, as opposed to spending it on cigarettes or alcohol. Another IRC report in Lebanon found that 87,700 families who were given $575 via ATM cards <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">used the funds for essential purchases</a>, like food, clothing, fuel oil, and so forth. In both of these studies additional findings spoke to the entrepreneurial nature of refugees, who strive against extremely difficult odds to build new lives. In the first study it was calculated that for every $1 of cash assistance, $2 was created in local markets. In the second, with cash transfers instead of other aid forms, more children stayed in school because fewer families had to send their kids to work. Another study of Syrian refugees in Iraq found that <a href="https://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff/">70 percent</a> of individuals sold some of the aid they received in the form of rice. Compared to other forms of aid, cash transfers empower refugees to take action on behalf of themselves and smooth entry into their new country.

And digital channels for cash aid – whether mobile money or otherwise – offer a number of benefits over physical cash transfers. Digital finance offers greater transparency and the ability to track cash, which can combat the longstanding problem of corruption surrounding the physical handling of cash. And digital offers refugees greater security and safety from theft.

Sadly, the current refugee crisis is not going away any time soon. In the meantime, we applaud all those working to support these millions of individuals, through cash transfers, financial services, and other means.

<strong>Have you read?</strong>

<a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/09/20/financial-inclusion-of-refugees-an-introduction/">Financial Inclusion of Refugees: An Introduction</a>

<a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/09/27/financial-inclusion-of-refugees-azerbaijan-case-study/">Financial Inclusion of Refugees: Azerbaijan Case Study</a>

<a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/10/07/financial-inclusion-of-refugees-al-majmoua-in-lebanon/">Financial Inclusion of Refugees: Al Majmoua in Lebanon</a>

Refugees and Humanitarian Assistance: Which Kind of Aid Is Best?

<em>&gt; Posted by the Smart Campaign</em>

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion announced today a $4.4 million, three-year partnership with The MasterCard Foundation to tackle the challenges facing consumer finance in an increasingly digital world. As a reader of this blog, you’re almost certainly familiar with the work of the Smart Campaign. The Smart Campaign is a global campaign committed to embedding <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/about/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles">client protection practices</a> into the institutional culture and operations of the financial inclusion sector. Since 2009, we’ve worked globally to create an environment in which financial services are delivered safely and responsibly to low-income clients. The partnership marks a shift in strategy for the Smart Campaign, as well as a deepening of its footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa.

To date, the Smart Campaign’s flagship certification program has certified over <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/certification">68 financial institutions</a>, serving 35 million clients worldwide. Recent certifications include Opportunity International Colombia, ENLACE in El Salvador, and BRAC Bangladesh, part of the world’s largest anti-poverty organization.

Under the partnership, the Smart Certification program will continue. But with support from The MasterCard Foundation, the Smart Campaign will increase its focus on convening a broader range of players in the financial services field—including regulators, industry associations and financial technology firms—to take on client protection issues emerging from new technologies, to elevate the voice of the clients they serve and to effect change at the national level.

“It’s important to certify the practices of individual financial institutions, but we will not create wholesale, sustainable change until we galvanize the support of all the partners involved in serving low-income people, including regulators and new, technology-based service providers. We must also make a concerted effort to champion the client’s perspective,” said Isabelle Barrès, Director of the Smart Campaign.

In much of Sub-Saharan Africa, client protection is urgently needed and sorely lacking. Predatory providers, abusive practices, weak regulations and inappropriate products can create lasting and sometimes devastating harm. For example, our <em><a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2015/10/22/what-do-clients-care-about-results-from-benin/">Client Voices research in Benin</a></em> found that 13 percent of all the Beninois clients consulted for the project reported experiencing a client protection problem. Among the 16 percent of clients who reported ever having been late with a repayment, nearly one in three experienced problematic treatment.

While the Smart Campaign will continue to be a global effort, this partnership will focus work in five Sub-Saharan African countries: Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. “With more than 45 million people in these five countries using financial services – often for the first time – the imperative to fully and sustainably protect clients is clear. With generous support from The MasterCard Foundation, the Smart Campaign can help ensure more people are offered high quality financial services,” said Isabelle Barrès.

At the same time, digital financial services are sweeping the continent, raising brand new client protection issues. Here on the blog we recently <a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/09/22/digital-credit-in-africa-are-nano-loans-safe-for-consumers/">spotlighted</a> the increasing prevalence of digital credit on the continent, namely nano loans, and outlined the related client protection concerns of “pushy” sales and marketing, the growing pains of early-stage algorithms, and the potential for discrimination in big data.

The Smart Campaign’s work aligns directly with The MasterCard Foundation’s focus on responsible, client-centric financial services. In fact this isn’t the first time The MasterCard Foundation and the Smart Campaign have partnered in support of advancing client care in financial services. “Our approach is to build and leverage partnerships across the financial inclusion sector to ensure clients’ needs are met responsibly,” said Ann Miles, Director of Financial Inclusion and Youth Livelihoods at the Foundation. “The Smart Campaign’s ability to reach out directly to clients to build awareness of their rights and understand their feedback is at the very heart of this partnership. The Smart Campaign will carry out activities designed to raise clients’ voices and inform them about their rights and responsibilities as consumers.”

<em>For more about The MasterCard Foundation, <a href="http://www.mastercardfdn.org/">click here</a>. And for more about the Smart Campaign, <a href="http://www.smartcampaign.org/">click here</a>.</em>

<em>Image credit: Accion</em>

<em>Editor's Note: Formerly, we erroneously referred to Opportunity International Cambodia, instead of Opportunity International Colombia. Opportunity International does not operate in Cambodia. </em>

<strong>Have you read?</strong>

<a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/10/25/building-trust-and-growing-digital-financial-services-a-look-at-jumo/">Building Trust and Growing Digital Financial Services: A Look at JUMO</a>

<a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/10/07/financial-inclusion-of-refugees-al-majmoua-in-lebanon/">Financial Inclusion of Refugees: Al Majmoua in Lebanon</a>

<a href="https://cfi-blog.org/2016/10/06/changes-afoot-for-ugandas-tier-iv-financial-institutions/">Changes Afoot for Uganda's Tier IV Financial Institutions</a>

The Smart Campaign and The MasterCard Foundation Team-Up to Tackle the Next Wave of Consumer Protection Challenges in Financial Services

[caption id="attachment_22204" align="alignright" width="350"]<a href="https://wvi.webex.com/wvi-en/lsr.php?RCID=f74ff90a0c83430a957d5d0c61343f1e"><img class="wp-image-22204" src="https://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-20-pic-1.png" alt="10-20-pic-1" width="350" height="226" /></a> Screenshot from VisionFund International's webinar (click to watch)[/caption]

<em>This post is part of <a href="http://www.fi2020week.org/">Financial Inclusion Week</a>, a week of global conversation on advancing financial inclusion. This year’s theme is keeping clients first in a digital world. Throughout the week participants will share their thoughts in events and webinars, on social media, and through blog posts. Add your voice to the conversation using #FinclusionWeek.</em>

On day three of <a href="http://www.fi2020week.org/">Financial Inclusion Week 2016</a> we were excited to see conversations happen around the world, including in Rwanda, Bangladesh, and Australia. We offer a rundown of these events and the vibrant online conversation below.

The week is nearing a close but there are still plenty of upcoming events and ways to get involved. Be sure to share your thoughts on Twitter with #FinclusionWeek, join tomorrow’s <a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2365627132751821825">webinar</a> with Innovations for Poverty Action, or <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf_eMIVRD4fRSSM86Xxde9p_sMObC3pppZ9dlFJpYqn3pEnQg/viewform">submit</a> a client quote and photo to our collection of <a href="http://www.fi2020week.org/page/">client insights</a>.

<strong>What’s Happening</strong>

VisionFund International hosted a webinar (two webinars, in fact, to accommodate for different timezones) focused on the future of digital financial services. The webinar centered on how VisionFund is using technology to lend to smallholder farmers at the right level, and at the right time. During the webinar, Tom Allen and Justin McAuley, Director of Change and Programs and Director of Global Digital Architecture at VisionFund, highlighted a new application they developed which uses available geographic and market data to better extend their products to smallholder farmers and manage risk. You can watch the full webinar <a href="https://wvi.webex.com/wvi-en/lsr.php?RCID=f74ff90a0c83430a957d5d0c61343f1e">here</a>.


[caption id="attachment_22206" align="aligncenter" width="616"]<img class="wp-image-22206" src="https://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-20-pic-2.jpg" width="616" height="410" /> "Currently there is no national definition of 'financial inclusion' and 'digital financial services' in Bangladesh but we are now actively working to promote banking services for all” – Md. Ashraful Alam, Deputy General Manager, Financial Inclusion Department, Bangladesh Bank[/caption]

In Bangladesh, USAID’s mSTAR project implemented by FHI360 hosted an interactive workshop entitled “Increasing the Uptake of Formal Financial Services through a Client-Centric Approach.” More than 35 representatives from the Central Bank, donor organizations, development organizations, digital financial services providers, banks, and insurance companies participated in the event. The workshop began with a session focused on assessing the current status of financial inclusion in Bangladesh. Participants then moved on to discuss scenarios reflecting existing barriers to accessing formal financial services in the market, including both social and economic obstacles. Finally, participants worked together to explore actions that could be taken by all stakeholders to extend full access. You can read more about this event in <em><a href="http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/10/20/154516">The Financial Express</a></em> (a prominent Bangladeshi news outlet).

<img class="alignright wp-image-22209" src="https://centerforfinancialinclusionblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-20-pic-5.png" width="300" height="323" />In Kigali, Rwanda, the Smart Campaign hosted a workshop focused on responsible mobile credit. During the workshop, participants assessed the most pressing consumer risks in mobile credit, with a specific focus on the risks presented by nano-loans. Participants advised that while these burgeoning nano-loans are small, they should not be disbursed carelessly and effective ways to protect clients on a regulatory and provider level should be explored.

<strong>Online Conversation</strong>

Orb Media held an open Twitter conversation yesterday featuring panelists from Grameen Foundation, Bankable Frontier Associates, Orb Media, and CFI. The conversation focused on a number of questions regarding the world's 2 billion unbanked individuals, the risks and opportunities associated with extending digital financial products to these populations, and the biggest challenges to advancing financial inclusion. Panelists focused on the need for the right tools at the right time for clients, proper regulatory instruments, and provider engagement as a means to empower clients and to lessen industry-level risks such as overindebtedness. You can read the conversation here on <a href="https://twitter.com/OrbTweet">Orb Media’s Twitter profile.</a>

BRAC - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3TtTHCLDrk">Keeping Clients First Through Digital Microfinance</a>

BRAC shared a new video demonstrating how digitization has helped them keep their clients first in their microfinance work. The video illustrates the benefits of digital and how it's integrated with their services and operations - including through their Smart Collection app, which helps field officers process savings and installments via tablet-based Android devices.

UK Financial Inclusion Commission - <a href="https://www.neyber.co.uk/blog/guest-blog-financial-inclusion-does-it-matter-for-employers?utm_content=buffer18628&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer">Financial Inclusion: Does It Matter for Employers?</a>

A blog post from the UK Financial Inclusion Commission spotlights how financial stress can greatly affect workplace productivity, and the unique position that employers are in to help mitigate or eliminate this, including by improving access to affordable credit like payroll loans.

<em>For more, including the week’s full event list and a curated #FinclusionWeek social media feed, visit the <a href="http://www.fi2020week.org/">Financial Inclusion Week website</a>.</em>

Financial Inclusion Week Round-Up – Day 3

Benin

Ghana

Nigeria

Rwanda

Uganda

Consumer Protection

Policy, Regulation and Government Initiatives

Press Release

Though Nigeria’s government has set ambitious goals for financial inclusion, the majority of its people lack a formal bank account. Accion has worked in the country since 2007 to expand access to financial services.

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<em>Washington, D.C., November 1, 2016 </em>– The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) at Accion announced today a $4.4 million, three-year partnership with The MasterCard Foundation to tackle the challenges facing consumer finance in an increasingly digital world. The Smart Campaign, a recognized leader in financial consumer protection, works globally to create an environment in which financial services are delivered safely and responsibly to low-income clients. The partnership marks a shift in strategy for the Smart Campaign, as well as a deepening of its footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Since its inception in 2009, the Smart Campaign has worked to infuse client protection into the DNA of the financial inclusion industry, certifying over 68 financial institutions serving 35 million clients worldwide. This flagship certification program will continue. Now, with support from The MasterCard Foundation, the Smart Campaign will convene a broader range of players in the financial services field—including regulators, industry associations and financial technology firms—to tackle client protection issues emerging from new technologies, to elevate the voice of the clients they serve and to effect change at the national level.

“It’s important to certify the practices of individual financial institutions, but we will not create wholesale, sustainable change until we galvanize the support all of the partners involved in serving low-income people, including regulators and new, technology-based service providers. We must also make a concerted effort to champion the client’s perspective,” said Isabelle Barrès, Director of the Smart Campaign.

The Smart Campaign’s work aligns directly with The MasterCard Foundation’s focus on responsible, client-centric financial services. “Our approach is to build and leverage partnerships across the financial inclusion sector to ensure clients’ needs are met responsibly,” said Ann Miles, Director of Financial Inclusion and Youth Livelihoods at the Foundation. “The Smart Campaign’s ability to reach out directly to clients to build awareness of their rights and understand their feedback is at the very heart of this partnership. The Smart Campaign will carry out activities designed to raise clients’ voices and inform them about their rights and responsibilities as consumers.”

In much of Sub-Saharan Africa, client protection is urgently needed and sorely lacking. Predatory providers, abusive practices, weak regulations and inappropriate products can create lasting and sometimes devastating harm. At the same time, digital financial services are sweeping the continent, raising brand new client protection issues. While the Smart Campaign will continue to be a global effort, this partnership will focus work in five Sub-Saharan African countries: Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. “With more than 45 million people in these five countries using financial services – often for the first time – the imperative to fully and sustainably protect clients is clear. With generous support from The MasterCard Foundation, the Smart Campaign can help ensure more people are offered high quality financial services,” said Isabelle Barrès.
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<strong>About the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
</strong>The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank working toward full global financial inclusion. Constructing a financial inclusion sector that reaches everyone with quality services will require the combined efforts of many actors. CFI contributes to full inclusion by collaborating with sector participants to tackle challenges beyond the scope of any one actor, using tools that include research, convening, capacity building and communications. To learn more about CFI, visit <a href="/Users/vmoore/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/8OSC6KV4/www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org">www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org</a>.

<strong>About The MasterCard Foundation</strong>

The MasterCard Foundation works with visionary organizations to provide greater access to education, skills training and financial services for people living in poverty, primarily in Africa. As one of the largest private foundations its work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. Based in Toronto, Canada, its independence was established by Mastercard when the Foundation was created in 2006. For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit <a href="http://www.mastercardfdn.org/">www.mastercardfdn.org</a>. Follow the Foundation at @MastercardFdn on Twitter.

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<strong>MEDIA CONTACT</strong>

Virginia Moore
Center for Financial Inclusion
+1 202-393-1659
<a href="mailto:vmoore@accion.org">vmoore@accion.org</a>

Isabelle Bourgeault-Tassé
The MasterCard Foundation
+1­ 647­‐535.3681
<a href="mailto:ibourgeault-tasse@mastercardfdn.org">ibourgeault-tasse@mastercardfdn.org</a>

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