The Impact of the World Bank on the Improvements of Consumer Protection in Financial Services and on Developing Financial Literacy in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Abstract

This study analyzes the impact of work
 of the World Bank in the areas of consumer protection in
 financial services and in improving financial literacy in
 the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the first two countries
 where the World Bank provided technical assistance in the
 areas of consumer protection in financial services and
 financial literacy. The impulse of the Czech authorities was
 their understanding that consumer protection was lacking in
 the area of financial services while the offer and
 complexity of financial products was growing rapidly in the
 quickly developing post-communist market. The authorities
 were dealing with a growing number of complaints from the
 public as well as increasing media coverage of consumer
 complaints, while lacking adequate internal expertise to
 deal with these issues. The World Bank prepared the
 technical note on consumer protection in financial services
 for the Czech Republic. After the note was presented
 publicly at a dissemination seminar in the Czech Republic,
 authorities of the Slovak Republic requested similar
 assistance as they were dealing with similar issues. This
 study describes the impact the pioneering work of the World
 Bank team had on the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and how it
 assisted national authorities in improving consumer
 protection in financial services and developing programs to
 increase financial literacy of the Czech and Slovak populations.