This paper examines the state of reverse mortgage markets in selected countries around the world and considers the potential benefits and risks of these products from a financial inclusion and economic benefit standpoint. Despite potentially increasing demand from aging societies - combined with...

This paper introduces a new global database and a policy classification framework that records the financial sector policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic across 154 jurisdictions. It documents that authorities around the world have taken a diverse array of measures to mitigate financial...

There is growing evidence that financially inclusive countries are more financially stable and exhibit better micro- and macro-economic conditions conducive to financial well-being of individual consumers. In order to produce significant economic and societal benefits, financial inclusion needs...

Over the past decade, financial consumer protection has become an increasingly mainstream priority for policymakers. A strong consumer protection regime is key to ensuring that expanded access to financial services benefits consumers, enabling them to make well-informed decisions on how best to...

Financial sector authorities increasingly prioritize financial inclusion and financial consumer protection, alongside existing priorities of stability and integrity. An enabling environment that facilitates competition, promotes innovation and the use of technology, addresses risks in a...

The objective of the diagnostic review of financial consumer protection in PNG was to assess the FCP legal and regulatory framework and industry practices relevant to key parts of the regulated PNG financial sector. The diagnostic specifically considers the banking, non-bank financial...

New sources of data, as well as new ways of processing such data, have contributed to an ongoing expansion in the availability of digital financial services (DFS) to served, underserved, and unserved consumers. Such data is being used to design and market customer-centric digital financial...

How do inexperienced consumers learn to use a new financial technology? This paper presents results from a field experiment that introduced payroll accounts in a population of largely unbanked factory workers in Bangladesh. In the experiment, workers in a treatment group received monthly wage...