DPI: Elevating Unheard Voices for Better Consumer Outcomes

Fiw Topics

Consumer Protection
Digital Financial Services

FIW Year

2024

Transcripts:

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Summary + Key Insights

A panel at Financial Inclusion Week 2024 discussed Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI),
emphasizing user centricity and the need to amplify vulnerable voices in financial systems.

📊 Cost Reduction and Accessibility: DPI can significantly lower transaction costs, improving access for low-income users. However, sustainability concerns arise if funding is not maintained for ongoing user support.
🛠️ Importance of Grievance Mechanisms: Effective grievance redressal systems can prevent user drop-offs, especially among vulnerable populations, by ensuring their concerns are addressed promptly.
🧩 Adaptability of Systems: DPI must be flexible enough to accommodate different technological capabilities and user experiences, particularly for those with limited digital literacy.
💡 Need for Inclusive Policies: Policymakers should prioritize gender-responsive strategies in DPI to ensure equitable access and benefits for women and marginalized groups.
🌐 Public-Private Partnerships: Collaborations between governments and private sectors can enhance DPI frameworks but must be carefully structured to avoid socializing risks while privatizing gains.
🔍 Long-Term Research and Monitoring: Continuous monitoring and research into user experiences are crucial to adapt and improve DPI, ensuring it remains relevant and effective.
🗺️ Tailored Solutions: Each market’s unique context must guide the design and implementation of DPI, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, to truly meet user needs.

This session summary was AI-generated using NoteGPT.

Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is increasingly recognized as a core component of modern governance and economic development, integral to advancing financial inclusion and supporting sustainable development goals. As the definitional space around DPI continues to evolve, so do different models adopted by countries, resulting in varied roles assumed by private and public entities in each country context. India and Brazil have shown some indications of the transformative potential of DPI. However, the voices of users often remain unheard. Our goals as we think of the next few years for inclusive finance is to reduce the access and usage gaps, and address the trust deficit in formal financial services so we can include the 3 bn who remain excluded from digital services, or the 2 bn that remain underserved by formal financial services. The panel will explore research findings and insights from India and Kenya, the Universal DPI safeguards framework – a multistakeholder effort convened and supported by the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and discuss what is required in the realm of governance innovation to foster an environment of trust for the most vulnerable consumer segments.

Session Speakers

Jayshree Venkatesan

Senior Director, Consumer Protection & Strategic Industry Engagement, Center for Financial Inclusion

As Senior Director, Consumer Protection & Strategic Industry Engagement, Jayshree leads the development and execution of the consumer protection research and influence strategy, contributing to CFI’s global portfolio. She also oversees the Responsible Finance Forum’s convening and influence model, building a community dedicated to addressing industry challenges in consumer protection and advancing the responsible finance agenda. With two decades of experience spanning structured finance, innovative business models, consumer research, and policy influence, Jayshree has worked to advance financial inclusion and economic development globally. Before joining CFI, she spent nearly a decade as an independent consultant with institutions like CGAP, the World Bank, JICA, and ITAD, focusing on customer-centric business models and challenges faced by low-income consumers in accessing and using formal financial services. From 2009-2013, she was part of the founding team at IFMR (now Dvara Trust) in India where she led India’s first mezzanine fund for microfinance, which evolved into an alternate investment fund. Jayshree is also a senior policy fellow at the Leir Institute within the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and has served as adjunct faculty at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, teaching decision analysis for business. Jayshree is a recipient of the Chevening fellowship for leadership from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK and completed the program at Kings College, London. She earned an MA in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, an MBA from Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, and an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Mumbai University.

David Porteous

Founder and CEO, Integral: Governance Solutions

David is the founder of Integral: Governance Solutions, an advisory firm which focuses on governance issues of early stage companies and public private entities which brings him into the land of DPI. He has a background of entrepreneurial leadership in fintech and edtech sectors.

Nanjira Sambuli

Fellow in the Technology and International Affairs Program, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Nanjira Sambuli is a researcher, policy analyst and strategist studying the unfolding, gendered impacts of digitalization/ICT adoption on governance, diplomacy, media, entrepreneurship, and culture, especially in Africa. Nanjira is a Fellow in the Technology and International Affairs Program at The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a Ford Global Fellow. She is a board member at Development Gateway and Digital Impact Alliance, a Diplomacy Moderator at the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) and advises the Carnegie Council’s AI and Equality Initiative. Nanjira previously led digital equality advocacy efforts at the World Wide Web Foundation, and worked at iHub Nairobi, where she provided strategic guidance for growth of technology innovation research in the East Africa region. She has also served as a board member at The New Humanitarian, co-chair of Transform Health, as a Commissioner on the Lancet & Financial Times Governing Health Futures 2030 Commission, as a panel member on the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, and as a deputy on the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel for Women’s Economic Empowerment.

Deepti George

Deputy ED and Head of Strategy, Dvara Research

With one and a half decades of experience, Deepti leads Dvara Research’s thinking on regulatory and policy themes in financial and banking systems. Deepti’s area of research and advocacy include consumer protection and institutional conduct, financial inclusion, and retail and wholesale financial services within Indian as well as international jurisdictions. She was part of the core technical secretariat to the Reserve Bank of India’s Mor Committee (2014), and SEBI’s Working Group on Social Stock Exchange (2020), and currently serves as a member of the ongoing SEBI Investor Survey Advisory Committee, and as the convenor for the Special Committee of the C20 on Financial Issues as part of India’s 2023 Presidency of the G20. She has been member of CGAP’s (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) coalition on Consumer Protection and has contributed to various fora like the International Financial Consumer Protection Organisation (FinCoNet) and the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME). In 2019, Deepti was ranked among India’s top 100 women in finance by the Association of International Wealth Management of India (AIWMI).

Sonja Kelly

Global Vice President, Research & Advocacy, Women’s World Banking

Sonja is the global lead for Women’s World Banking (WWB) research. Through research on the financial sector, policy trends, financial services providers, and end users, Sonja and her team advocate for women’s financial inclusion. Before joining Women’s World Banking, she advised the U.S. Department of State on strategy for U.S. Embassy engagement in digital finance around the world. She has served as the director of research at the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, has held consulting roles at the World Bank and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), and has worked in microfinance at Opportunity International. Sonja holds a PhD in International Relations from American University where she researched financial inclusion policy and regulation.

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