Financial Consumer Protection free essay sample

The paper will also comprise of comprehensive information on laws and regulations relevant for consumer protection and discusses a number of challenges related to empirical analyses of financial consumer protection. 1. 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Financial consumer protection is about ensuring a fair exchange between providers and consumers of financial services. A deliberate policy framework is necessary to counterbalance the inherent disadvantage of financial service consumers’ vis-a-vis the power, information, and resources of their providers. Consumer protection, in the broader sense, refers to the laws and regulations that ensure fair interaction between service providers and consumers. Government intervention and regulation in the area of consumer protection are justified on the basis of inherent information asymmetries and power imbalances in markets, with producers or service providers having more information about the product or service than the consumers. A consumer protection framework generally includes the introduction of greater ransparency and awareness about the goods and services, promotion of competition in the marketplace, prevention of fraud, education of customers, and elimination of unfair practices. Consumer protection frameworks in the financial service industry are evolving as products become more complex and a greater number of people rely on financial services. An effective consumer protection framework includes three complementary aspects. First, it includes laws and regulations governing relations between service providers and users and ensuring fairness, transparency and recourse rights. Second, it requires an effective enforcement mechanism including dispute resolution. Third, it includes promotion of financial literacy and capability by helping users of financial services to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to manage their finances. The recent crisis highlighted shortcomings in the existing consumer protection frameworks in high income countries and prompted a number of broad-ranging reforms. The crisis also made apparent the low levels of financial capability among users of financial services in developed countries. . 3 PROBLEM STATEMENT 1. To analyze the problems and challenges facing financial consumer protection in Kenya. 1. 4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objective of this study is: 1. To establish the importance of financial consumer protection especially in Kenya. 2. Provide information on financial consumer protection. 3. Suggest ways of improving and dealing with financial consumer protection. 4. Suggest ways of creating awareness of financial cons umer protection. 5. Estimate the relative use of different service providers by Kenyan financial consumers, so as to focus the analysis on the most important players and issues. 6. To establish Protection against deceptive and unfair trade practices. 1. 5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS OR HYPOTHESIS 1. What are factors affecting financial consumer protection? 2. What is the level of financial literacy in Kenya? 3. What are the ways of improving financial consumer protection? 4. What is the extent of financial consumer awareness and education? 5. What are the challenges facing financial consumer awareness? . What are trends in the financial sector? 1. 6 JUSTIFICATION It is quite evident that there are challenges facing financial consumers, the existing laws are in adequate for consumer protection and policies and laws need to be put in place to ensure: 1) Physical protection of the consumer. 2) Protection against deceptive and unfair trade practices. 3) Protection against all types of pollution. 4) Protection agains t the abuse of monopoly position and/or restrictive trade practices. 5) Protection of enjoying the financial consumer rights. . 0 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK This literature review focuses on existing academic literature on financial consumer protection,consumer information, financial literacy and financial education. Existing academic literature on financial consumer protection spans law and economics, but is rather limited. One strand of literature derives from behavioral economics and is closely linked to financial literacy. Behavioral economics has often been used to examine consumer behavior and the reasons behind certain consumer choices. This strand of literature acknowledges that the approach of standard models in economics that is, rational consumers and competitive markets may not always hold in actuality. In the financial sector specifically, some studies have argued that consumers are subject to certain behavioral biases, including vulnerability to marketing such as being likely to take up offers that are framed in simple terms. Consumers may not be well-informed, they can get confused when they are presented with many alternatives, and can eventually make systematic mistakes, which could be exploited by providers. In this regard, even well-established and efficient disclosure requirements may not be sufficient. Hence they suggest developing financial market regulations based on behavioral models in which the underlying reasons of certain decisions by the households are investigated, rather than modeling the way in which rational households should make their decisions. Campbell (2006) suggests the use of financial literacy as an avenue of remedy, in addition to well-designed financial consumer protection regulations. Elliehausen (2010) argues that the results of behavioral research could be useful in designing effective regulations in the credit market. These research findings highlight the importance of financial literacy and disclosure requirements in mitigating information asymmetries in the market for financial products and services. The key challenge for the applied research going forward is to identify effective forms for disclosure. For credit products, evidence suggests that disclosing loan terms to customers can help reduce borrowing costs. Despite their importance, there is no universally accepted set of disclosure requirements (i. e. , which terms and conditions are to be disclosed and when, how information should be presented, etc. One approach used to address this issue is through a standardized format in which information is disclosed to consumers, which often includes plain language requirements. Other studies (Collins et al. , 2009, and FSD-Kenya, 2009) support this claim. For example, consumers prefer and better understand when they are quoted the dollar amount of payments and the number of months it will take them to pay off the loan, instead of the details of compounding. However, certain products are necessarily more complex and will require more information to be disclosed, though in the absence of financial iteracy, it is unlikely that this complex information will be understood by the consumer. Unfortunately systematic data on the levels of financial literacy and awareness of financial concepts remains limited. Policy papers focusing on the review of consumer protection and financial literacy indicate that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to designing consumer protection and financial literacy policy. Financial literacy is low among the poor, especially in developing countries. There is evidence that individuals lack even the understanding of interest rates (Porteous, 2009; FSD-Kenya, 2009). In this respect, providing financial education to the poor to raise their financial capability and establishing better consumer financial protection regulations may turn out to be a better option. Indeed, there is evidence that disclosure requirements lowered microfinance interest rates significantly in countries with competitive microfinance markets. Financial literacy programs and disclosure requirements alone are not sufficient for ensuring good financial consumer protection regulations that correct for information asymmetries and market failures. Regardless of financial literacy levels, service providers, if left unchecked, often have incentives to take advantage of information asymmetries and adopt unfair selling practices that allow for quick and large gains in profits. Hence, fair treatment provisions are also of importance in this regard. While all of these are, in general, aimed at correcting the information asymmetries in the market for financial products and services, another aspect of financial consumer protection is the existence and accessibility of third-party recourse mechanisms. There is not much written on fair treatment practices and recourse mechanisms in the academic literature. The policy paper by Brix and McKee (2010), however, considers these two issues in the context of low-access environments. Brix and McKee (2010) caution the policymakers that fair treatment provisions should be designed in such a way so as not to deter access to financial services. They also suggest starting with a discussion of standards for internal dispute resolution mechanisms, which is more widely feasible than third-party recourse mechanisms. Two recent papers are particularly relevant for our research presented here. Rutledge (2010) provides a detailed analysis of financial consumer protection in banks and non-bank financial institutions in nine countries in Europe and Central Asia. In these transition economies, financial services have developed rapidly in recent years, presenting unique challenges. 3. 0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1 INTRODUCTION In research design, there are two major methods of research. These are qualitative research and quantitative research. In quantitative research the aim is to determine the relationship between one thing (an independent variable) and another (a dependent or outcome variable) in a population. Quantitative research designs are either descriptive (subjects usually measured once) or experimental (subjects measured before and after a treatment). For an accurate estimate of the relationship between variables, a descriptive study usually needs a sample of hundreds or even thousands of subjects; an experiment, especially a survey, may need only tens of subjects. The estimate of the relationship is less likely to be biased if you have a high participation rate in a sample selected randomly from a population. In surveys, bias is also less likely if subjects are randomly assigned to treatments, and if subjects and researchers are blind to the identity of the treatments. In my esearch quantitative research method is implemented. Surveys are to be used to gather information from various sources. 3. 2 RESEARCH DESIGN The research design to be used in this study is a survey design. Direct consumer surveys and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) are to be used in the study to understand consumers’ own perceptions of their experience with different products and providers. 3. 3 SAMPLING The survey method is to be used in this study. A random sample of financial consumers and financial service providers and stakeholders are to be selected. 3. 4 DATA COLLECTION Data is to be collected using a semi-structured questionnaire served on respondents through drop and pick methods. The method was chosen because of time and cost. The exercise is to obtain core information and supplementary information is to be obtained through further probing of the respondents and by reading relevant publications of financial consumers and various markets such as capital and money markets. Face-to-face interviews with regulators, supervisory staff, financial service providers and their industry associations, consumer advocacy organizations and researchers is also to be used to collect data. Desk research on relevant laws, regulations, codes of conduct, institutions, and previous reports and research is to be used in collection of data. . 5 DATA ANALYSIS Data analysis is to be conducted using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Editing is to be undertaken before data analysis. It will involve Identification of relevant experiences from other countries, with a particular focus on measures to improve transparency, fair treatment, recourse, and consumer awareness and financial education. The analysis will also examine the interaction of financial sector laws and regulations with cross-cutting laws and regulations (e. g. , to promote competition or consumer protection across the entire economy) in different jurisdictions. 4. 0 FINDINGS Mass market financial services are growing at an impressive rate in Kenya, generating significant benefits for lower income consumers. Driving this expansion is a broad array of financial service providers. The financial sector regulators provide some consumer protections to the clients of regulated institutions, but such provisions vary by financial institution type and are incomplete and inconsistent across the market as a whole. There is no general or market wide consumer protection law or authority, and therefore users of informal financial service providers – 65% of the population lack legal protection entirely. As a result of the absence of an entity with market-wide jurisdiction, a comprehensive Kenyan approach to financial consumer protection and recourse has yet to find footing in policy or practice. A growing body of evidence from consumer research in Kenya suggests that the welfare of consumers is compromised by the lack of effective price disclosure and dispute resolution mechanisms, and by abusive practices. The findings of this confirm a wide range of practice around disclosure of the prices and conditions of different financial services. For example, loan prices are quoted using a bewildering array of pricing formulas. The large number and type of added fees and commissions adds to the confusion for consumers, especially those new to formal finance. The report addresses these variations in practice in detail, by financial service sector (e. g. , mobile payment service providers, banks, SACCOs, etc. ). The findings draw attention to the particular importance of improved transparency in mass market financial services. Financial services are inherently more complex than most goods or other, more tangible services. On the supply side, providers do not always provide clear information about their products through from the initial marketing and sales process to actual delivery of the service. On the demand side, many consumers that are new to formal finance and are challenged to learn a very different set of rules and structures from those used by the informal arrangements with which they are familiar. They find it difficult to comprehend the prices, key terms and conditions, and all the other details of formal contracts. This demand-side challenge is exacerbated when more than half of mass market consumers have limited numeracy skills. In these circumstances, consistent and effective disclosure is a necessary preventive measure. It can reduce up-front the types of confusion that can easily lead to problems – problems such as misunderstandings about prices, consequences of late payments, or conditions for payment of insurance claims. Standardisation of wording and formats also merits further investigation. When financial access is growing rapidly, as in Kenya, consumers should be able to learn a single set of rules of the game, rather than having to wrestle with different disclosure formats for different providers and products. 4. 0 SCHEDULE Prepare proposal by:1 Nov Complete literature review by:7 Nov Complete fieldwork by:15 Nov Complete analysis by: 1 Dec Give presentation on:3 Dec Complete final report by: 10 Jan 5. 0 CONCLUSION This analysis will present the first step in a systematic assessment of financial consumer protection across a large set of countries. Further refinements in methodology are necessary to better capture the effectiveness of the implementation of the existing financial consumer protection regulations. More importantly, a greater focus by regulators on monitoring compliance and collecting data on consumer complaints and on how they are resolved can help inform public policy. Regulatory impact assessments at the country level, including the impact on the users of financial services, as well as on the cost to financial institutions, are also an important component in determining the most effective approaches to ensuring fair and transparent retail financial markets. 6. 0 RECOMMENDATIONS The key recommendations to improve consumer protection for mass-market financial consumers in Kenya relate to the following areas: 1. Financial consumer awareness and education will be a critical component of any consumer protection regime in Kenya. 2. Regulations that clarify provider liability and responsibility for oversight of third party agents who play a role in the delivery of services. 3. Minimum requirements for provider-level recourse and dispute resolution mechanisms. 4. Putting in place a cross-market consumer protection that will yield another important benefit. It will facilitate consumers learning a single set of rules as the basis for their interaction with financial services providers. 5. The authority can enforce consumer protection regulation across the entire financial market and thereby cover the clients of otherwise unregulated providers. 7. 0 REFERENCES 1. FSD-Kenya (2009). Definition of a Standard Measure for Consumer Interest Rates in Kenya: A Scoping Study, Nairobi: Kenya. [http://www. fsdkenya. org] 2. Nelson, Candace and Angela Wambugu. (August 2008). Financial Education in Kenya. Nairobi: FSD-Kenya. 3. Capital Markets (Licensing Requirements) (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2007 for Demutualization of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) that include an explicit requirement to protect investors. 4. Brix, Laura, and Katharine McKee. (2009). Consumer Protection Regulation in Low-Access Environments: Opportunities to Promote Responsible Finance. Focus Note 60. Washington, D. C. : CG