Financial Inclusion and Consumer Protection in Peru

Abstract

As part of its Global Policy Initiative,
 Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) partnered with
 the Superintendence of Banks, Insurance and AFPs of Peru in
 late 2008, with the purpose of enhancing the understanding
 of the issues and trends in consumer relations when
 financial services are delivered through branchless banking,
 particularly through agents, which are used in ever
 increasing scale in Peru. The product was this joint report.
 Three other countries with relevant experience in branchless
 banking (Kenya, Brazil and India) participated in a similar
 exercise at approximately the same time. As in the case of
 Peru, the exercise gave an opportunity for regulators of
 each jurisdiction to look at their regulatory and
 institutional framework for protecting branchless banking
 users, evaluate their regulatory and supervisory actions,
 and identify areas for improvements. A forthcoming CGAP
 focus note complements the effort, by making an overall
 evaluation of the lessons learned in these countries and
 drawing on the knowledge from other pioneer countries such
 as South Africa, Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines. The
 focus note will point out and address priority areas of
 concern and possible regulatory and policy options to
 address them. The first part of the report outlines the
 financial inclusion efforts currently being undertaken by
 the Superintendence. The following section summarizes the
 most important points of the legal and regulatory framework
 for financial consumer protection, pointing out any
 specificity of branchless banking. The third part describes
 the branchless banking business in Peru and describes the
 issues and problems identified in the relationship between
 branchless banking clients and providers, and the
 supervisory and enforcement implications. The last section
 draws conclusions and makes recommendations for achieving a
 balance between openness to innovation and protection in a
 branchless banking environment.