Joint RCE-OECD hybrid workshop on “Financial inclusion Trends, developments, and policy tools”

Day one (1) of the workshop consisted of two (2) sessions namely sessions 1 and 2.

Day two (2) of the workshop consisted of sessions three (3) and four (4).

Session 1: Latest trends and developments in financial inclusion and financial literacy, with a specific focus on digitalisation

This session elucidated the latest trends and developments in financial inclusion and financial literacy, with a specific focus on digitalisation. It also covered the latest research and policy instruments developed by the OECD/INFE on digital financial literacy.

The speakers were from the OECD and the World Bank.

• Mr Andrea Grifoni, Policy Analyst, Financial Consumer Protection, Education and Inclusion Unit, OECD elaborated on the integrated and multi-dimensional approach to consumers’ financial well-being, which was classified as financial education, financial inclusion and consumer protection. He talked about the recommendation of the OECD Council on financial literacy to have a single, comprehensive instrument on financial literacy.
• Ms Saniya Ansar, Economist, Finance and Private Sector Development, World Bank has spoken on the global findex database highlights: digitisation as a tool for financial development & inclusion. Ms Ansar mentioned that financial account ownership continued to rise globally. She highlighted that mobile money drove financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa and some other economies.

 Session 2: Country case studies: financial literacy

This session delved into the design and implementation of financial literacy policies and initiatives that addressed the digitalisation of retail financial services and/or that were delivered through innovative digital means.

The speakers were from the Morrocco, Brazil, Tanzania, Nigeria and Mauritius.

• Mrs Fatima-Zahra Aziz, Director Moroccan Foundation for Financial Education, provided an overview of financial inclusion in Morocco. She elucidated how Morocco had many opportunities to further reduce the number of unbanked transactions through the digitalisation of financial services including payments.
• Mr Ronaldo Silva, Deputy Head, Department for Financial Citizenship Promotion, Central Bank of Brazil spoke on the enabling conditions for the digitalisation in the financial system of Brazil whereby, 84% of the population had access to the internet through their mobile phones and, there was a growing number of payment institutions and fintechs, with expanded competition in the Brazilian market.
• Ms Nangi Massawe, Head of the Financial Inclusion Department, Bank of Tanzania explained the designing and implementation of financial literacy policies and initiatives in the Tanzanian economy. She also talked about the areas for consideration during the designing and implementation of the National Financial Education Framework and policy documents with financial literacy initiatives.
• Mrs Chinyere Nwolbilor, Acting Director, of Consumer Protection Department spoke on financial literacy and digitalisation from the Nigerian perspective. She talked about the Policy Recommendations of the G20/OECD Task Force on Financial Consumer Protection and elaborated on one of the G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection 2022, Access and Inclusion.
• Mr Amit Kumar Ramjeet, Manager of the Financial Services Fund, FSC emphasised on the highest level of financial inclusion in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) where 90% of adults aged 18 years and above in Mauritius enjoy access to financial services, 85% of the adult population is banked, 49% use non-bank products and services and 26% use informal mechanisms to manage their finances.

 The moderator was Ms Mariam Rajabally, Partner of Grant Thornton, Mauritius and FSC Board member.

Session 3: The updated G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection

This session was about the updated G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection. It explained how their implementation could support a safe participation of consumers in financial markets, and specifically how this could support financial inclusion.

The speakers were from Mauritius, Australia and South Africa.

• Mr Feycal Caunhye, Chief Communications Officer, BoM spoke about the role and initiatives taken by the BoM to protect consumers and boost consumers’ education. He also highlighted that the BoM launched the nationwide financial literacy strategy in September 2022 which involved a significant element of consumer education. He spoke on the ‘Future Banking Report’ which paved the way for how banking evolved, the challenges and the solutions of financial literacy.
• Mr Christopher Green, Chair of FinCoNet and Group Senior Manager - Credit, Australian Securities and Investments Commission spoke on the legal, regulatory, and supervisory framework for Financial Consumer Protection in Australia.
• Ms Kershia Singh, Head of the Market, Customer and Inclusion research department, Financial Sector Conduct Authority, South Africa spoke on the Financial Sector Conduct Authority's strategic approach to financial inclusion. She further elaborated on how to improve the outcomes that customers experience so that more people engage more confidently with more financial products/services. She elaborated on the traditional role of regulators and on consumer education initiatives that focused on empowering financial customers with the ability to navigate the financial services sector.

 Session 4: Roundtable on supporting financial inclusion through financial literacy and financial consumer protection approaches

This session discussed how financial literacy and financial consumer protection could support financial inclusion objectives in the Southern and Eastern African regions.

The speakers were from Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Morrocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

• Mrs Sally Abdel Kader, General Manager, Financial Literacy Department, Financial Inclusion Sector, the Central Bank of Egypt explained the financial literacy pillars and channels to ensure that financial inclusion was happening in a formally.. She mentioned that there was a lack of trust in the financial system where people were not aware of digital financial services and preferred to deal with physical people rather than technology.
• Ms Reham Ali discussed that there were various ways to make customers' complaints to be addressed through the Central Bank branches and the Central Bank website. She also mentioned that there was a government portal that helped the customer to distress their needs and frustration if any.
• Mr Jaime Manjate explained on supporting financial inclusion through financial literacy and financial consumer protection in Mozambique. He mentioned that there are three main stakeholders that contribute to the above namely the Bank of Mozambique, Mozambique Stock Exchange and the Insurance Supervision Institute of Mozambique.
• Mr Frank Kajungu Manager, Financial Sector Conduct and Consumer Protection at the National Bank of Rwanda shared the recommendations of the 2020 FinScope Survey on how to improve financial health through high-quality and consumer-centric products; and focused on thematic analysis using the framework/indicator as a tool to identify targets for tailored policy intervention and to monitor policy effectiveness.
• Mr Lyndwill Clarke, Head of Consumer Education at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority elaborated on the role of the FSCA and its strategic approach to financial inclusion.
• Mr Collins Muchipu, Assistant Manager-Financial Sector Development in the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Supervision Department at the Bank of Zambia spoke on the financial education initiatives that were covered under the national strategy on Financial Education
• Mrs Matsebula, Manager in the Licensing and Inspections in the Insurance and Retirement Funds division at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority spoke on the Finmark Trust FinScope Survey, of 2014 and 2017 which indicated the low level of financial inclusion in Eswatini. The strategy in the survey aimed to ensure regulation and licensing, promote affordable product pricing, reporting and information management, and promote gender equality, financial capability and consumer protection.