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Digitizing financial services has enabled tremendous innovation in the provision of credit in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which some hail as a transformative development with potential to drive financial inclusion, reduce poverty, and spur economic growth. However, others associate digital credit with a proliferation of misconduct, consumer abuses, and over-indebtedness, which can have severe consequences for the most vulnerable consumers and amplify inequality. The Mobile Instant Credit: Impacts, Challenges, and Lessons for Consumer Protection report aims to bring evidence and data to bear on the debate, focusing on Mobile Instant Credit (MIC) and related products like airtime loans where there is now a critical mass of impact evidence.

In this webinar, hosted by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), IPA’s Ria Zapanta and CEGA’s Dan Cassara will introduce the key insights from the deck, drawing mainly from CEGA’s Digital Credit Observatory (DCO) and IPA’s Consumer Protection Research Initiative (CPRI). Both initiatives have supported extensive research on digital credit and approaches to better protect consumers and support their financial health. The webinar will conclude with a panel featuring Professor Silvia Prina of Northeastern University and Ammar Khan from Creditbook Financial Services in Pakistan to discuss the implications of the evidence on future research and products on digital credit. The webinar will be moderated by Paul Adams, the Director of the Consumer Protection Research Initiative and Financial Inclusion Program at IPA.