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Time to Take Data Privacy Concerns Seriously in Digital Lending

Digital credit is on the rise in Kenya. While digital lenders are expanding access to credit for many Kenyans, they are operating outside regulation by any financial sector authority–and some key consumer protection concerns have started to emerge.

Protecting Digital Financial Data: What Standard-Setters Can Do

A 2016 GPFI white paper highlighted privacy and data security risks in digital financial services, asking international financial Standard-Setting Bodies (SSBs) to pay attention. Why are they concerned, and what steps can SSBs take to improve data security?

Will Crowdfunding Help Financial Inclusion of Unserved Crowds?

“Crowdfunding” is market-based financing where small amounts of funds are raised from large numbers of individual sources. While crowdfunding has the potential to become the next big thing for financial inclusion, risks for both borrowers and lenders need to be better understood.

A Better System for Internal Complaint Handling

As with any product, there are times when financial services do not work as customers expected they would. How can financial service providers improve their internal complaint handling systems?

Deepening Insights on Financial Exclusion Risks

Since 2011, financial Standard-Setting Bodies (SSBs) have taken fundamental steps on financial inclusion. However, a new GPFI White Paper observes that little progress has been made on understanding financial exclusion risks. What are these risks, and what can be done to address them?

Risk-Based Supervision in the Digital Financial Inclusion Era

Lack of supervisory capacity is one of the key challenges facing financial sector supervisors in emerging markets. A risk-based approach to supervision helps to strategically allocate scarce resources and to prioritize interventions according to identified risks.

Global SSBs Chart New Path in Digital Financial Inclusion

Global standard-setting bodies (SSBs) are increasingly recognizing the significant implications of developments in digital financial services. A new white paper from The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) offers a roadmap through some of the most critical issues.

Improving Recourse Systems in Digital Financial Services

Effective complaints handling, or recourse, reassures users of new financial services that problems can be resolved and that their money is protected. A new CGAP brief highlights the keys to improving recourse systems in digital financial services.

What Information Do Customers Need to Make Informed Decisions?

We know more today than every before about how customers use financial services. But we still don’t know enough about what information customers access about products they are considering, and how this informs their financial decisions.

Digital Finance and Illiteracy: Four Critical Risks

Illiteracy is still a global problem, and most financial services are not designed for illiterate customers. The Helix Institute is working with financial service providers to help develop products and services that can work better for those who cannot read.

Putting Mystery Shopping to the Test in the Philippines

Typically, mystery shopping is associated with consumer market research. However, financial regulators - such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas - are also using it as a tool to check if financial institutions are complying with regulations.

Mystery Shopping: A Different Way to “Listen to the Customer”

Mystery shopping is another way of "listening to the customer" and understanding what their experience at a financial institution is really like.

Safaricom Launches Feature to Stop Erroneous Transfers: Hakikisha

Safaricom recently launched an additional functionality “Hakikisha” on the M-Pesa Menu in Kenya, which will enable subscribers to confirm a recipient’s name before completing an M-Pesa transaction. Hakikisha has been under pilot for the last month.

DFS Risk: “When It Works, It’s Great; When It’s Bad, It’s Awful"

Many innovators in digital finance fail to grasp the potential negative implications or risks associated with customers using advanced technologies.

How Will You Do Digital Finance Right?

There is evidence of a clear tension between the advantages of digital financial services and the risks to customers. This issue will be addressed at the Responsible Finance Forum in Antalya, Turkey, September 7-9, 2015.

Fixing the Hidden Charges in Lipa na M-Pesa

Kenyan regulators took action to disclose Lipa na M-Pesa’s pricing structure. The move highlights a growing problem as digital financial services expand: Existing financial consumer protection rules are not being enforced consistently on these delivery channels.

What Can Donors Do to Ensure Responsible Digital Finance?

For digital finance to be a transformative tool, consumers must have greater confidence in the markets and in providers that deliver those services, writes USAID's Matt Homer.

Smartphone-Led Digital Finance: Three Areas to Watch

The rapid uptake of smartphones stands to enable a transformational opportunity for digital finance, also raises important questions concerning security and privacy.

Consumer Risks and Rewards Amid Increased Competition in Kenya

In Kenya, product development and the growth of agent networks are moving in the right direction to provide customers with more options, but we must also remain mindful of the risks these developments pose to customers.

Sprint or Limp? Investing In Customer Service to Achieve Success

Investing in first class platforms and agent training can be the difference between providers of digital financial services who "sprint" or "limp" across the finish line.