20th April 2017

OECD report on digitalisation, consumer protection & financial literacy

In some countries, financial education initiatives have started to address certain topics such as the availability and effective usage of mobile money, mobile banking, and internet banking (Denmark, Malaysia and Switzerland). Some other financial education programmes are also touching upon key consumer protection issues, such as ways of identifying and preventing online fraud, ensuring online banking safety, and providing security tips for using ATMs, credit cards, e-payments, etc. (Czech Republic, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Portugal). Indonesia highlighted the need for financial education interventions to explain to consumers that their money is safe, even if they lose their mobile phone.

A limited number of initiatives seek to develop digital literacy skills. One example includes the remittances marketing campaign programme by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the United States which aims to educate consumers about their protection when sending money abroad, and helps consumers understand their rights, as well as comparison shop for money transfer services.

According to its particular national context, each country has a different answer to the question of “who” should be responsible for educating consumers about digital financial services.

Better digital tools and more tailored financial education programmes will be needed to provide vulnerable and hard to reach groups with actionable and digestible guidance to help them navigate ever more complex digital
finance products and tough financial times. Yet, this does not mean that the digital delivery of financial education
or sophisticated digital tools should replace other, more conventional forms of financial education provision, particularly in light of the lack of relevant impact evaluation. 

Read the full report and Highlights.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic