Using the DFS Standards to Address the Crisis of Customer Harm from Digital Finance

Fiw Topics

Consumer Protection
Data Risks & Opportunities
Digital Financial Services

Fiw Year

2024

Transcripts:

ENGLISH

Spanish

French

Summary + Key Insights

The session discusses using DFS standards to mitigate customer harm in digital finance, focusing on risks like fraud and transparency.

🛡️Fraud Risk: A significant number of consumers experience fraud in digital finance, highlighting the need for robust protective measures. Continuous monitoring and education are essential to combat evolving fraud tactics.

📈 Consumer Vulnerability: Research indicates that more vulnerable consumers report higher negative outcomes, underscoring the importance of targeted solutions for at-risk groups.

💡 Transparency: Lack of clear information results in consumer confusion and potential financial harm. Financial service providers must prioritize transparency in their communication and offerings.

🔄 Feedback Loops: Engaging consumers in providing feedback helps institutions improve their services and better address consumer needs, enhancing overall trust and satisfaction.

🔍 Rigorous Testing: Solutions must be rigorously tested for effectiveness to ensure they address the actual needs of consumers without causing unintended consequences.

📊 DFS Standards: These standards serve as a comprehensive tool for organizations to assess and improve their practices in digital finance, fostering responsible and inclusive financial services.

🤝 Collaboration: Collaboration among financial service providers, regulators, and consumer advocates is essential for building a safer digital finance ecosystem that protects all consumers.

This session summary was AI-generated using NoteGPT.

This is an era of great opportunity and risk in the financial inclusion sector. Technology has enabled broader outreach and innovation, yet customers are also experiencing a staggering level of harm. The diverse challenges range from cyber criminality, fraud, inadequate recourse mechanisms, over-indebtedness, and lack of transparency, among others. Significant numbers of DFS customers have suffered financial loss. In response to this crisis, Cerise+SPTF spent two years developing management standards for financial service providers of all types to implement in order to offer DFS responsibly (the “DFS Standards”) To identify these practices, Cerise+SPTF led an intensive and collaborative process, involving expert interviews, document review, and field testing. The DFS Standards evaluation tool is now available, as a free public good, and represents the cumulative global learning about the consumer protection risks inherent to DFS and how to mitigate them. This session will dive deeply into the DFS Standards content.

Session Speakers

Sheila Senfuma

Head of Programme – Digital Finance, Consumers International

Sheila Senfuma Nakanyike is the Head of Programme for Digital Finance at Consumers International, the membership organisation for 200+ consumer advocacy groups around the world in more than 100 countries. Consumers International works with members and partners to empower consumers, to ensure consumers are treated safely, fairly and honestly worldwide, and to drive change in the marketplace on global consumer issues including digital access and rights, product safety and sustainability. She oversees the Fair Digital Finance Accelerator, which is a unique and vibrant community of consumer associations in Low- and Middle-Income countries, and a platform for collaborative action, learning and collective influence on digital finance to shape the future for consumers. Prior to joining Consumers International, Sheila worked for the UN World Food Programme Uganda, heading the Cash based Transfers and digital financial inclusion unit. Sheila has also worked for Ensibuuko, a leading financial technology company in Africa, the Bank Policy Institute in Washington DC as an Atlas Corps FinTech fellow, and also worked at Citibank.

William Blackmon

Associate Director, Consumer Protection, Innovations for Poverty Action

William is an Associate Director of Consumer Protection on Innovation for Poverty Action’s Financial Inclusion Program. In this role, William oversees a portfolio of research studies, including work related to mobile money agent networks and consumer protection for digital finance users. His work involves supporting studies led by IPA-affiliated researchers as well as overseeing IPA-led research projects. He previously worked in IPA’s Kenya office as a Research Associate and Research Coordinator, where he managed studies focused on education and employment. Prior to joining IPA, he consulted for the World Bank, was a research assistant for the Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development, and Evaluation (gui2de), and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. William earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University and received his undergraduate degree in engineering from California Polytechnic State University.

Wayne Hennessy-Barrett

Founder and CEO, 4G Capital

Wayne Hennessy-Barrett is Founder and CEO of 4G Capital, a financial service provider in Kenya and one of the top ten global finance B Corporations. Mr. Hennessy-Barrett is a committed advocate for the power of business and technology for the alleviation of poverty.

Amelia Greenberg

Deputy Director, Cerise+SPTF

Ms. Amelia Greenberg is the Deputy Director of the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), where she has worked since 2010. Among her roles, Ms. Greenberg manages the Facility for Responsible Inclusive Finance in SSA/MENA, oversees review and updates to the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management, and runs the SPTF Outcomes Working Group. Ms. Greenberg has an M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins, with specializations in international economics and international development, and a B.A. from Brandeis University.

Alan Muñoz

Presidente Ejecutivo, Banco Fihogar

Alan Muñoz is Presidente Ejecutivo of Banco Fihogar, a digital financial services provider in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Muñoz has a degree in Business Administration from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Santo Domingo and an MBA with a concentration in finance and entrepreneurship from the Babson Graduate School of Business in Boston. In addition, he has a postgraduate degree in banking administration from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking.

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