Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)

Our latest brief considers the case of #Kenya and its rollout of a new #digitalID, the Maisha Namba. While some view this initiative as a significant step in the country’s broader #DPI journey, others express strong skepticism and frustration from poor past experiences with digital ID failures and concerns about exclusion, misuse, and ineffective investments. Exploring perspectives from 53 Kenyan citizens, multiple civil society organizations, and private sector firms, this brief aims to understand the conditions, contexts, and practices that must exist for DPI to produce beneficial outcomes for citizens. Read the brief: https://lnkd.in/d7YXiCcg

Now Hiring! ⤵️ Do you have strong #research experience and a passion for driving #financialinclusion to improve the lives of low-income communities around the world? CFI is hiring a Research Specialist and a Research Director to join our team! Learn more and apply today: bit.ly/CFIrecruiting

CFI's Edoardo Totolo recently spoke at the #APrIGF2024 on 'Making AI Responsible for Financial Inclusion,' hosted by The Pranava Institute. Highlighting the importance of collaboration to develop responsible #AI practices, Edoardo also emphasizes the need to go beyond #openfinance and discuss open #data trails to reduce bias and ensure algorithmic governance. Watch the full panel here: https://bit.ly/3z4LDVC

At the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), we have been exploring the need for safeguards while building Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for inclusive finance. DPI is often not considered when thinking of consumer protection and the delivery of responsible financial services. However, the design of these important rails can determine end user experience and must be examined closely and within each country context to understand the types of safeguards needed to protect end users' rights and enshrine their trust. Our latest brief considers the case of #Kenya and its rollout of a new #digitalID, the Maisha Namba. While some view this initiative as a significant step in the country’s broader #DPI journey, others express strong skepticism and frustration from poor past experiences with digital ID failures and concerns about exclusion, misuse, and ineffective investments. Julie Zollmann, Nanjira Sambuli and Catherine Wanjala explore the experiences and opinions of 53 Kenyan citizens, multiple civil society organizations, and private sector firms, to understand what conditions, contexts, and practices must exist for DPI to produce beneficial outcomes for citizens. Monica Greco, Laura Bingham, Carole House, Mihir Kshirsagar, Akash Kapur, Kriti Kapila, Heba Shams, Ravi Shankar Chaturvedi, Kay McGowan, David Porteous, Ahmed Dermish, Sucharita Mukherjee, Camilo Téllez, Nontobeko P L., Anand R. Deon Woods Bell Kim Wilson Subhashini (Shuba) Chandran Payal Dalal Alexandra Rizzi Rebecca Rouse Siobhan Green Read it here:

Just released! ⤵️ Citizen Experiences with DPI: Kenya’s Digital ID Transition #DigitalID is a crucial layer of digital public infrastructure (DPI), often seen as essential for meeting documentation requirements and facilitating access to affordable digital financial services. As #Kenya rolls out a new digital ID, it serves as an interesting case for reflecting on and understanding the conditions under which #DPI might be able to efficiently deliver meaningful benefits for citizens. Our newest brief outlines the history of digital ID within the Kenyan context and raises broader questions about DPI specific to countries with low trust in state capacity environments– questions we must address to ensure these systems are responsible and generate positive outcomes. Read here: https://lnkd.in/d7YXiCcg By Julie Zollmann, Nanjira Sambuli, and Catherine Wanjala #digitalpublicinfrastructure #maishanumba #responsiblefinance #digitalfinancialservices #citizenexperiences #consumerprotection #responsibledesign #governance

It was great to moderate a panel earlier today at the #APrIGF2024 on 'Making AI Responsible for Financial Inclusion' on behalf of The Pranava Institute. I had the privilege to engage with an expert panel to unpack the opportunities and challenges which AI brings to the goals of financial inclusion, with a focus on the APAC region. 1) Edoardo Totolo from the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) highlighted the need for working together to develop actionable responsible AI practices that translate high-level principles and the need for greater engagement with the impact investment community on responsible AI innovation for financial inclusion. He emphasised the need go beyond open finance and talk about open data trails to reduce bias and ensure algorithmic governance to truly unlock responsible AI innovation. 2) Shelley Anderson from AIR - Alliance for Innovative Regulation spotlighted how regulators worldwide are exploring multi-stakeholder collaborations with academics, fintechs and consumer bodies in order to better regulate, encourage and manage digital financial ecosystems. She also emphasised growing interest among financial regulators to use AI-based Suptech and Regtech tools to support regulatory functions including fraud detection, risk detection and risk management. 3) Chandni Gupta from the Consumer Policy Research Centre in Australia emphasised the compelling need for consumer protection by establishing clear guardrails given the lack of transparency, laws and clear dispute resolution and redressal mechanisms in many jurisdictions when it comes to data use for AI training and algorithmic decision-making. Also, she emphasised that consumer safety makes business sense. 4) Monami Dasgupta from D91 Labs Setu highlighted the strides India has made in its financial inclusion journey including emerging models of DPI-based AI innovation for financially underserved populations while emphasising the need for guardrails to ensure costumer-centricity, reduce bias and prevent exclusion. 5) Rachael Gong from the Khazanah Research Institute shared insights from her research in the Malaysian context -emphasising the lack of representativeness in training data that result in further marginalisations and the need for data protection and mechanisms to ensure that AI-based decisions are accountable. She also emphasised the need for building public trust via education and awareness to adopt basic digital services which in turn improves data trails of underrepresented segments including small businesses. Virtually everyone agreed on the need for more multi-stakeholder conversations to exchange approaches and best practices across the region. You can watch the panel here: https://lnkd.in/g5kc9aJC #financialinclusion #AI #techpolicy

[Event alert] Happening tomorrow! #APRIGF2024 The Pranava Institute is hosting a panel discussion on ‘Making AI Responsible for Financial Inclusion’ at the Asia-Pacific regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) 2024 in Taipei. Join us to hear from our eminent panelists: - Chandni Gupta, Consumer Policy Research Centre, Australia - Shelley Anderson, AIR - Alliance for Innovative Regulation, UK - ⁠Dr. Rachel Gong, Khazanah Research Institute, Malaysia - Edoardo Totolo, Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), USA - ⁠Monami Dasgupta, D91 Labs, India - ⁠Shyam Krishnakumar, The Pranava Institute, India Tune in to listen to our expert panelists share insights on bridging the financial divide with AI, overcoming challenges in AI deployment for financial services, drawing lessons from past fintech projects in APAC, and outlining principles for trustworthy AI in financial inclusion. Date: 23rd August, 2024 Time: 9 - 10 am Taipei Time(GMT+ 8) | 6:30 - 7:30 am IST Mode : Virtual Watch our session live: https://lnkd.in/g_qphU7G Titiksha Vashist Shyam Krishnakumar Dhanyashri Kamalakkannan Internet Governance Forum #AI #fintech #financialinclusion #APAC #responsibleAI #APRIGF2024 #TWIGF #InternetGovernance #IGF

#ConsumerProtection. When it comes to digital credit, adding a bit of friction can actually benefit consumers! While fintech innovations have largely focused on reducing frictions in financial services, there are cases where intentional friction—what Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) calls "positive friction"—plays a crucial role in helping consumers make more informed decisions. For example, implementing a separate step to review terms and conditions, making gambling payment blocks the default setting, or delaying loan disbursements during certain hours. Given the concerns around over-endebtness raised by digital credit, this research should be of interest to many. More in their call to action https://lnkd.in/eT5wB8Y6 Thanks Eric Duflos for flagging

"The finance of tomorrow lies in understanding what customers need and delivering it where they are; embedded financial services can drive more inclusion for underserved segments and offer a pathway for business growth. They can help drive costs down, making products and services more affordable, and show a way to deliver quality financial services at a point to customers when they need it and where they need it." At this week's Finance of Tomorrow, Accion's COO Karthik Venkataraman spoke about the potential for embedded finance to reach underserved people, alongside Filipe Damian Préve, José Reynaldo Furlani, Rafael Goulart, and Carlos Benitez. The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)'s Jayshree Venkatesan also took the stage to share her insights on consumer protection and the importance of responsible finance, part of a panel to discuss impactful policy opportunities along with Uraan Suruí and Willy Edmundo Carranza Dick, and moderated by Bianca Lopes. #FinanceOfTomorrow #FinancialInclusion #DigitalEconomy

The Pranava Institute is hosting a panel discussion on ‘Making AI Responsible for Financial Inclusion’ at the Asia-Pacific regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) 2024 in Taipei. We are honoured to have Chandni Gupta from Consumer Policy Research Centre, Shelley Anderson from AIR - Alliance for Innovative Regulation, Dr.Rachel Gong from Khazanah Research Institute, Edoardo Totolo from Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) and Monami Dasgupta from D91 Labs, join us for this panel discussion moderated by our Co-Founder, Shyam Krishnakumar and share their expertise on how AI can be harnessed to bridge the financial divide. Join our eminent panelists as they share insights on de-risking financial inclusion, overcoming AI deployment challenges, drawing lessons from past financial technology deployments in APAC, and outlining principles for trustworthy AI in financial inclusion. Date: August 23, 2024 Time: 9 - 10 am Taipei Time(GMT+ 8) | 6:30 - 7:30 am IST Mode : Virtual Link to the livestream: https://lnkd.in/g_qphU7G Titiksha Vashist Shyam Krishnakumar Dhanyashri Kamalakkannan Internet Governance Forum #AI #fintech #financialinclusion #APAC #responsibleAI #APRIGF2024 #TWIGF #InternetGovernance #IGF