This report is the second in a series of studies that measure the cost of banking services in Kenya. It follows the first report that was released in 2017 and constitutes a complementary element in the measurement of the financial inclusion landscape in Kenya.

Technology has changed how services are developed and delivered to customers. Regulators are hard-pressed to figure out how to respond, what to regulate, and what to leave aside.

The first article in a blog series examining the Kenyan credit market by FSD Kenya drew an analogy between the recent forest fires in the Amazon Jungle and the explosion of digital credit in Kenya.

Social media is changing customer service by shifting the ways in which consumers seek resolution of problems and the communications channels that firms make available to consumers.

The use of an alert system that flagged Twitter conversations on consumer protection topics, when they rose above certain thresholds, shows promise as a new consumer protection market monitoring tool that we could use in Kenya to address the substantial gaps in consumer protection monitoring and enforcement.

Social media is changing customer service by shifting the ways in which consumers seek resolution of problems and the channels that firms make available to consumers.

Manufacturers of cars or microwave machines are duty bound to ensure that their products are safe for use. Why can’t financial regulation introduce a similar obligation to ensure financial products and services are not negligently developed and sold, causing harm to consumers?

If we want truly dynamic and competitive pricing, we just need to empower consumers’ data to be the oil that lubricates a new type of marketplace.

Financial Sector Deepening-Kenya is proud to be a supporting partner of Dignity and Debt‘s project that involves the use of AI to marshal citizen voices about their experiences with digital credit.

When clear rules that govern the financial sector are enforced well, it ensures that both providers and consumers emerge from the market place as winners

Joseph and Alice are not real people, but the impact of behavioral research on consumer protection is anything but hypothetical. Across the world, consumer protection authorities have been using behavioral research to inform everything from post-financial crisis rules for mortgage brokers to regulations on new mobile and app-based financial services.

Data protection is one of the most important issues currently facing the Kenyan economy. On July 17th FSD Kenya submitted public comments to the Data Protection Bill, 2018 presented by the Senate ICT Committee.

There is a range of new data sharing models emerging that could have a significant impact on financial innovation in emerging markets.

The combination of a regulatory sandbox and a one-stop-shop regulatory helpline is what the Kenyan fintech market needs to continue innovating.

In countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, India, and Mexico, there is momentum to increase consumers’ ability to access, manage, and control their digital identity and history.

Meaningful financial solutions can help poor people manage day to day, deal with risk and invest in the future.

Although this question seems simple and straightforward, answering it is more difficult than it looks.

Kenya has experienced tremendous improvements in access to financial services over the last few years. However, little is known about the trends in affordability of financial services, especially for low-income earners.

Our first blog in this series discussed the Hunger Safety Net Programme and savings groups (SGs), for which we’ve also sought to use market based approaches. Part Two, discusses the use of a market based approach in graduation programmes.

I spent a week in Kenya, courtesy of Financial Sector Deepening, an initiative of a number of aid agencies, including Britain’s Department for International Development, the Swedish government, and the Gates Foundation. 

Over 250 policymakers, industry players, regulators, lecturers, students, financial sector analysts, development practitioners and other guests gathered at the National Museum’s Louis Leakey Auditorium on Thursday 9th February 2017 for the 3rd FSD Kenya annual lecture on financial inclusion.

During his delivery of the 3rd FSD Kenya annual lecture on financial inclusion, John Kay argued that the challenge for emerging economies is to avoid the mistakes of the west and to instead focus on building a financial sector that is focussed on the core needs of the non-financial economy.

Kenya’s annual financial inclusion lecture sets out how to protect consumers and drive growth in financial services

Registration is open!

Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSD Kenya) has worked since 2008 with CARE and, since August 2012, with CRS, to develop, test and perfect different models or channels for forming, training and supporting Savings Groups (SGs).