As digital technologies transform financial inclusion, with new providers, products, and delivery channels reaching out to the financially excluded, the need increases for effective legal and regulatory frameworks to protect low-income consumers. A sound legal framework for consumer financial protection will support financial inclusion and innovation, allow new products and services to responsibly reach previously underserved consumers, and provide for empowered and capable regulators to oversee and enforce these frameworks.
<h2>Strengthening the Legal Framework for Digital Financial Services</h2>
The Handbook on Consumer Protection for Inclusive Finance presents updated and revised guidance for consumer financial protection regulators organized around the Smart Campaign's Client Protection Principles (CPPs). It expands upon a previous document, the Client Protection Principles: Model Law and Commentary for Financial Consumer Protection (Model Legal Framework) to reflect updated <a href="http://www.smartcampaign.org/about/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles/digital-credit-standards">digital credit standards</a> from the Smart Campaign, new and emerging guidance from international organizations and collaborative working groups, and consultation with a broad range of experts regarding the unique characteristics of digital financial services (DFS), with an emphasis on digital credit.
<h2>Global Lessons and Model Legislation for Policymakers</h2>
In the Handbook, the Client Protection Principles are matched with legal provisions that promote the realization of these principles in practice. Expanded areas of the Handbook include the unique characteristics presented by DFS, new content around data privacy, fraud, and security, and product-specific recommendations. The tool is intended as a resource for financial consumer protection policymakers by providing model language, illustrative examples, and actionable recommendations. The aim is to support dialogue and foster collaboration between government and industry.

Handbook on Consumer Protection for Inclusive Finance

As digital technologies transform inclusive finance, with new providers, products, and delivery channels reaching out to the financially excluded, the need increases for effective legal and regulatory frameworks to protect low-income consumers. When considering the organizing question for <a href="/financial-inclusion-week-2019">Financial Inclusion Week 2019</a> “Financial Inclusion: For What?” the theme of equity looms large. If the rules of the road for digital financial services (DFS) aren’t predictable, balanced between mitigating consumer risks and fostering innovation, or considering the voice of consumers, financial inclusion cannot deliver on its promises of fair access, fair use, or fair treatment. A sound legal framework for consumer financial protection will support financial inclusion and innovation, allow new products and services to responsibly reach previously underserved consumers, and provide for empowered and capable regulators to oversee and enforce these frameworks.

<strong>The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and DLA Piper/New Perimeter are pleased to launch updated and revised guidance for financial consumer protection regulators tackling the risks and opportunities introduced by digital financial services.</strong> The <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/tools-a-resources/1210-handbook-on-consumer-protection-for-financial-inclusion">Handbook on Consumer Protection for Inclusive Finance</a>, a joint project between experts at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, Accion, and DLA Piper/New Perimeter, presents updated and revised guidance for consumer financial protection regulators organized around the Smart Campaign’s <a href="https://www.smartcampaign.org/about/smart-microfinance-and-the-client-protection-principles">Client Protection Principles</a> regarding the unique characteristics of DFS, with an emphasis on digital credit.

<strong>Join experts from Accion and New Perimeter on October 25 at 9:30 a.m. EST for a webinar to discuss how the regulatory landscape is shifting with the advent of digital financial services, the challenges policymakers are facing, and the ways that this Handbook can help regulators and the entire inclusive finance industry to strengthen consumer protection frameworks.</strong>

DLA Piper

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Handbook on Consumer Protection for Inclusive Finance

Webinar: A Conversation About the Handbook on Consumer Protection for Inclusive Finance