RFF 2024

Bridging Inclusion and Innovation to Improve People’s Lives 

July 2–3, 2024
Fortaleza, Brazil

Bridging Inclusion and Innovation to Improve People’s Lives

The digital revolution has reshaped society, making critical services — especially financial solutions — more accessible. Yet, complex challenges persist. Approximately one third of the global population remains offline, threatening to exacerbate inequities between and within countries, and for consumers who have gained access, rising consumer protection risks such as fraud, data misuse, cyber-risks, and vulnerabilities produced by debt stress threaten to reverse progress by eroding financial health and re-excluding people from formal financial systems.

Today, working on building resilience is not enough. Rather, we must work to help people improve their lives by preventing them from experiencing harm and building their trust to use formal financial services. Before digital financial services took the main stage, we addressed inclusive finance consumer protection risks by examining financial service providers’ behaviors and implementing guardrails through formal regulations and guidelines. However, this is no longer sufficient and there is now a growing need to examine how we design the digital building blocks that enable the delivery of financial services — Digital Public Infrastructure — and ensure that these systems can withstand shocks, and have safeguards while continuing to innovate and meet future needs. We will also discuss other important topics that impact consumer outcomes- digital credit, and emerging frontiers in the data economy with advances in AI and data sharing.

The 2024 Responsible Finance Forum in Fortaleza, Brazil will kickstart conversations needed to spark systems-level change and achieve the responsible and equitable delivery of quality financial services, all while aiming to obtain the desired outcomes of safety, choice, trust, voice, and improved financial health for consumers.

RFF 2024 AGENDA

Responsible Finance in Action

Day 1: Tuesday, July 2

Brazil presents an excellent example of both the opportunities and the risks that come from rapid digitalization. In 2020, Brazil launched the national PIX payments system, allowing Brazilian people, companies, and government entities to send or receive nearly instant payment transfers. Less than four years later, 140 million adults — approximately 80 percent of the country’s adult population — use PIX.

Yet, amid this exciting and rapid growth, there are also looming concerns. Recent reports indicate that nearly 72 million Brazilians defaulted on their loans in 2023. And in a country where over half the population identify as Black or mixed race, one third live under the poverty line and are at risk of facing ‘algorithmic racism’. Furthermore, the country is home to 60 percent of the Amazon basin and faces significant risks from climate change which will likely exacerbate existing inequities in the country.

 Fortaleza is in the northeast region of Brazil and routinely ranks low on socio-economic indicators and high on the risks for climate-related disasters.There is a rich opportunity to better understand the regional challenges the people of Fortaleza and local government face, and to see first-hand how we can innovate to address these obstacles.

14:00 – 18:00

Immersive Learning Visit to Banco Palmas

RFF attendees are invited to attend an immersive learning experience to visit Banco Palmas, Brazil’s first community bank. Launched more than 25 years ago in Fortaleza, the Banco Palmas network now consists of 152 community banks operating across 16 states in Brazil. The network offers a variety of financial and other services based on the concept of “solidarity economy.” It has three main characteristics: (1) management responsibilities are assumed by the community; (2) an integrated local development system that promotes credit, production, marketing and training; and (3) promotion of an alternative “local currency” (currency of Palmas), which complements the official currency (real) and is accepted and recognized by local producers, traders and consumers, creating an alternative and supportive market between families and local businesses.

Please note: The learning visit to Banco Palmas is open to the first 100 people. Buses will pick attendees up from the RFF conference venue promptly at 14:00. Please gather in the lobby of the Gran Mareiro by 13:30. Please be on time, wear comfortable shoes for walking, and dress to spend some time outside. It will be hot and humid, so please carry enough water, sunscreen, and hats. Please do not wear expensive jewelry and make sure you keep your mobiles safely in a bag when you head out for the field visit. Do not venture into areas on your own, and stay with the group at all times for your safety.

18:00 – 19:00

Debrief from the Immersive Learning Experiences

Reflecting on learnings from the immersive visit, this session will discuss what we can adopt from countries like Brazil and how we can innovate to create responsible outcomes for consumers.

Speakers:

Karthik Venkataraman, Chief Operating Officer, Accion

Sergio Navajas, Senior Specialist, IDB Lab

19:00 - 20:30

Cocktail Reception & Dinner

How Do We Achieve Responsible Outcomes for All?

Day 2: Wednesday, July 3

8:00 – 9:00

Check-In

9:00 – 9:20

Welcome Remarks

Michael Schlein, President and CEO, Accion

9:20 – 9:40

Host Country Opening Remarks

Carolina de Assis Barros, Deputy Governor of Institutional Relations, Citizenship and Conduct Supervision (DIREC), Central Bank of Brazil

9:40 – 10:00

The Year in Review

Nataša Goronja, Managing Director, Center for Financial Inclusion

10:00 – 10:15

Coffee & Networking

10:15 – 12:30

Creating a Roadmap for Responsible Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is crucial for the delivery of digital financial services. However, unlike physical infrastructure, the digital world poses a complex web of challenges — ranging from governance, design, incentives to innovate, competition, and sustainability — as well as questions about whether we are reaching the desired outcomes for end users. As we increasingly turn our focus to building responsible DPI systems, the inclusive finance sector is now turning attention to “user-centric DPI”. Infrastructure design has the power to significantly shape user experience and outcomes. However, traditionally infrastructure design does not consider users during the early inception stages, and user-centricity is often left to the service providers who then design and deliver services built on the existing architecture.

10:15 – 10:45

Opening Presentation:
Evidence from a Demand-Side Survey in Kenya

The session will begin with a short presentation of Kenya’s experience — a market that has seen significant growth in digital financial services and has become the poster child for the market systems approach. With Kenya now revisiting the idea of launching a digital ID as a pathway to DPI, the speakers will raise questions on what this potential change could mean for the cost to consumers and to firms that would need to realign their systems.

Presenters:

Dr. Julie Zollmann, Development Researcher and Consultant

Nanjira Sambuli, Fellow in the Technology and International Affairs Program, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

10:45 – 12:00

Moving from Risks to Building Safeguards

Attendees will then participate in an interactive workshop with the goal of providing feedback to the DPI Safeguards Framework, which is being developed by the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology (OSET).

Facilitator:

Moritz Fromageot, Advisor, Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology

12:00 – 12:30

User-Centricity in DPI

The session will conclude with a discussion about the term “user-centric digital public infrastructure” and will examine what this means with regards to payments, comparing experiences from India and Brazil.  

Speakers:

David Porteous, Founder and CEO, Integral: Governance Solutions

Mayara Yano, Senior Advisor, Competition and Financial Market Structure Department, Central Bank of Brazil

12:30 – 13:45

Lunch & Networking

13:45 – 14:45

New Frontiers in the Data Economy: Data Sharing, AI, and Regulation in Responsible Finance

The rapidly evolving landscape of data sharing — driven by open finance, open data ecosystems, and AI innovation — is redefining financial services and posing new regulatory challenges. AI-led models require data trails that avoid perpetuating real-world biases, an imperative for policymakers, especially in markets where the gap between digitally excluded and included customers is widening. Emerging data exchange arrangements are creating new opportunities for innovation and competition in concentrated markets, but they are also increasing pressure on regulators to ensure informed consent and adequate data protection measures. The challenge for regulators is to ensure that the new frontiers in the data economy, achieved through data sharing and AI models, continue to balance the opposing objectives of fair competition, innovation, and consumer protection.

This session will bring together experts working on open data exchange, AI, and regulatory innovation to help draw practical insights on how to navigate the future of financial services.

Moderator:

Edoardo Totolo, Vice President of Research and Programs, Center for Financial Inclusion

Speakers:

Ariadne Plaitakis, Senior Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 

Eduardo Lopes, Global Head of Public Policy, Nubank

Shelley Anderson, Program Director, Alliance for Innovation in Regulation

Tarcizio Silva, Senior Tech Policy Fellow, Mozilla Foundation and Consultant, Digital Rights, Brazilian Association of Civil Society Organizations (ABONG)

14:45 – 16:00

Addressing Digital Credit Debt Stress: Lessons from Brazil and Other Markets

Digital credit has proven its power to unlock economic opportunities and help people improve their livelihoods. However, the rapid expansion of digital credit has often been accompanied by increasing debt stress, as well as other consumer protection challenges such as price shrouding, overcharging, predatory collections, and rising fraud. Increased debt stress can create wider social and political repercussions, including rising unrest, violent protests, and other actions that threaten to undo the benefits that financial inclusion has achieved over the past decade.

Many financial sector regulators are aware of these risks and recognize the importance of implementing appropriate monitoring mechanisms and regulatory interventions at an early stage to prevent risks to financial markets, consumers, and firms.

This session will discuss how we can identify the early warning signs of debt stress in a market and what actions to take. Considering the various perspectives from regulators, policymakers, and financial services providers, the panel will examine the challenges involved with regulatory or policy interventions as we continue to work on preventing overindebtedness in today’s digital world.

Presenter:

Gabriel Davel, Institute for Credit Market Development

Moderator:

Nataša Goronja, Managing Director, Center for Financial Inclusion

Speakers:

Aayushi Chaturvedi, Lead-Consumer Insights, Consumers International

Diogo Nogueira Cruz, Head of Financial Citizenship Research and Monitoring, Department for Financial Citizen Promotion, Central Bank of Brazil

Eric Duflos, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, CGAP

Mercedes Bidart, Co-founder and CEO, Quipu

16:00 – 16:15

Coffee & Networking

16:15 – 17:30

Provider Postcards: Showcasing Innovative Approaches to Responsible Finance

The confluence of technology and finance has made it easier for providers to take innovative approaches to achieve responsible outcomes for consumers. Yet, from an ecosystem perspective, questions remain around how to amplify these provider-led efforts. What resources are required? How can we scale innovations so they become more than just an experience differentiator but also the benchmark for the industry?

This session will showcase provider-led innovations from Kenya, Mexico, and Colombia. There will then be a facilitated group discussion about what variables are needed to create an enabling environment for more provider-led innovations for responsible finance.

Moderator:

Ahmed Dermish, Lead Specialist, Policy and Government Advocacy, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)

Featured Innovations:

Josh Allen, Data Science and Credit Risk Manager, Pezesha, Kenya

María Paula Arregui, COO, Mercado Pago, Brazil

Miguel Londono, COO, Monet, Colombia

Pedro Moura, CEO and Co-Founder, Flourish Fi, Mexico

17:30 – 18:15

Call to Action: Fireside Chat on Next Steps

This session will reflect on the day’s discussions and provide a call to action, outlining priorities from multi-stakeholder perspectives that need to be addressed over the next three years through the global Responsible Finance Forum.

Moderator:

Payal Dalal, Executive Vice President, Global Programs at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Speakers:

Chanchal C. Sarkar, Co-Chair, G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India

Luiz Gustavo Mansur Siqueira, Head of Department for Financial Citizenship Promotion, Central Bank of Brazil

Magda Bianco, Head of Consumer Protection and Financial Education Department, Bank of Italy

Michael Schlein, President and CEO, Accion

18:15 – 18:30

Closing Remarks

Beth Hurvitz, Board Member, Accion

19:00 – 21:00

Cocktail Reception and Dinner

Speakers

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