Handbook on Consumer Protection for Inclusive Finance

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.

This handbook 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 digital credit standards 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.