A financial sector that works for consumers has a suite of products and features that are suitable to consumers’ needs, are safe from cybercrime and that protect consumers’ privacy. Ideally, empowered consumers exercise an informed choice, understand the information disclosed to them, and have their voice heard in their interaction with financial services providers and agents.
The reality is often different. Cenfri’s consumer outcomes work aims to bridge the gap. We have worked with Consumers International, CGAP, GIZ, FSD Kenya, FSCA South Africa and the SADC Secretariat. Our track record includes policy briefs, regional consumer protection guidelines, financial inclusion measurement, measurement of consumer outcomes, and country-level consumer protection technical assistance.
We also have a significant body of work on behavioural science and its application in the financial sector.
Consumer outcomes: the holy grail. If you think about it, consumer protection is the ultimate raison d’être of all financial sector regulation. But what is “success” in consumer protection? The approach to financial consumer protection regulation has evolved over time. In recent years, more regulators have started to shift from a
Consumers face several frustrations with the potential to affect their experience of digital financial services. These include system glitches, inappropriate design, fraud, cybercrime, data breaches, opaque pricing, and more. The Digital finance: The consumer experience, 2023 report, which Cenfri developed for Consumers International, provides an assessment of the scale of
This database reflects a systematic review of behaviourally informed interventions that have significantly impacted the financial decisions of individuals as they engage with credit, savings, payment and insurance products (excluding health insurance). The criteria for inclusion were studies where: Rigorous research (RCT, lab or field experiments) was undertaken A behavioural
Why is it that 80 percent of bank account holders in Madagascar only use their accounts once a month or less? What makes the parents of a child requiring unforeseen medical treatment in the DRC choose to approach their mutualitée (a local form of informal mutual aid society) for a
The availability of data in financial inclusion has grown tremendously in recent years. Data initiatives such as the World Bank’s Findex, FinMark Trust’s Finscope, IMF’s Financial Access Surveys, AFI’s Core Set, GPFI’s Basic Set, MIX Market’s Finclusion Lab, as well as countless studies driven at a national level, have played a critical role in deepening our understanding
This blog series stimulates a broader discussion on gendered financial inclusion in ASEAN. We examine why women’s access to financial services does not necessarily equate gendered usage. We further explore whether the value that women derive from financial services is impacted by the provider they access them from. It is
“A behavioural intervention is any customer interaction that has been explicitly designed to influence the financial decision (or behaviour) of an existing or potential customer.” Financial service providers (FSPs) are continually looking for innovative ways in which they can design and deliver financial services to reduce cost and increase the
The recent 2017 Findex findings have triggered another round of important discussions on usage in financial inclusion. They highlight that, in the absence of usage consumers don’t get value from the services they have and providers don’t make money. It’s a lose-lose situation. Understanding usage is important for financial inclusion
We highlight key insights from our research into behavioural interventions and how they could assist financial service providers to better understand the financial needs of consumers. Financial services can help individuals to manage their money, plan for risks, start entrepreneurial ventures and build assets over time. These benefits are, however,
We’ve been exploring how financial service providers can translate new insights from behavioural science into the design and delivery of financial services These systematic reviews conducted in 2017 and 2018 sought to identify behavioural interventions that have been proven to influence the credit, saving, insurance or payment decisions of customers. We’ve
As we explore how behavioural science can narrow the gap between customer intention and customer action, we have started to look at examples from specific financial services. Two sectors identified as playing a role in improving the lives of the financially excluded are insurance and formal remittances. Behavioural interventions and
