Ardic, Oya PinarIbrahim, Joyce A.Mylenko, Nataliya2012-03-192012-03-192011-01-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3308Consumer protection and financial literacy can contribute to improved efficiency, transparency, competition, and access in retail financial markets by reducing information asymmetries and power imbalances between providers and users of financial services. Financial consumer protection has gained significance in policy debates, especially since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. This paper presents the results of a survey on consumer protection regulations in 142 countries. The findings indicate that although consumer protection legislation is in place in the majority of countries, these do not necessarily address the issues specific to financial services. There is some evidence that enforcement powers and monitoring capacity are limited in many countries, obstructing the effective implementation of the existing regulations. Furthermore, independent third party dispute resolution mechanisms are not widespread. The paper also compiles comprehensive information on laws and regulations relevant for consumer protection and discusses a number of challenges related to empirical analyses of financial consumer protection to enable cross-country comparison.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCESSIBILITYADVERTISEMENTADVERTISEMENTSANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATEANTI-MONEY LAUNDERINGAPRARREARSASYMMETRIC INFORMATIONATMATMSAVERAGE BALANCEBANK ACCOUNTSBANK CHARGESBANK DEPOSITBANK DEPOSITSBANK PRODUCTBANKING ACCOUNTBANKING SERVICESBANKING SUPERVISIONBANKSBASIC BANKINGBEHAVIORAL ECONOMICSBIASESBORROWERBORROWINGBUSINESS LENDINGBUYERSCALCULATIONCALCULATIONSCAPITAL MARKETCASH WITHDRAWALSCHECKSCOLLECTIVE INVESTMENT SCHEMESCOMMERCIAL BANKCOMMERCIAL BANKSCOMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONSCONSUMERCONSUMER ACCESSCONSUMER BEHAVIORCONSUMER COMPLAINTSCONSUMER CREDITCONSUMER CREDIT PRODUCTSCONSUMER FINANCECONSUMER LENDINGCONSUMER LOANCONSUMER LOANSCONSUMER PROTECTIONCONSUMER PROTECTION LAWCONSUMER PROTECTION LAWSCONSUMER PROTECTION MEASURESCONSUMER PROTECTIONSCONSUMER RIGHTSCONSUMERSCONTRIBUTIONCOST OF CREDITCREDIT ALLOCATIONSCREDIT BUREAUSCREDIT CARDCREDIT CARD ISSUERSCREDIT CARDSCREDIT FACILITIESCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT INFORMATION BUREAUSCREDIT INSTITUTIONSCREDIT LINECREDIT MARKETCREDIT MARKETSCREDIT PRODUCTSCREDIT REPORTINGCREDIT TRANSACTIONSCREDITORCREDITSCURRENT ACCOUNTSCUSTOMER SERVICEDEBTDEBT COLLECTIONDEBTORSDEBTSDEPOSITDEPOSIT ACCOUNTDEPOSIT ACCOUNTSDEPOSIT INSURANCEDEPOSITORDEPOSITORSDEPOSITSDEVELOPING FINANCIAL MARKETDISCLOSURE OF INFORMATIONDISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTDISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTSEARNINGSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTELECTRONIC BANKINGELECTRONIC PAYMENTSENFORCEMENT MECHANISMENFORCEMENT MECHANISMSEQUAL ACCESSEXCESSIVE INTEREST RATESFEDERAL RESERVEFEDERAL RESERVE BANKFINANCESFINANCIAL ACCESSFINANCIAL ACTIVITYFINANCIAL ADVISERSFINANCIAL COMPANIESFINANCIAL CONCEPTSFINANCIAL CONSUMERFINANCIAL CONSUMERSFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL EDUCATIONFINANCIAL EXPERIENCESFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL INSTRUMENTSFINANCIAL LITERACYFINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAMSFINANCIAL MARKETFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL MATTERSFINANCIAL PRODUCTFINANCIAL PRODUCTSFINANCIAL REGULATORFINANCIAL REGULATORSFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SERVICEFINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERSFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRYFINANCIAL SERVICES REGULATIONFINANCIAL STABILITYFINANCIAL SYSTEMFINANCIAL TRANSACTIONSFOREIGN CURRENCYGENERAL PUBLICGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONGREATER ACCESSGUARANTORSHOUSEHOLD FINANCEHOUSEHOLDSIDILLITERACYINCOMEINCOME GROUPINCOME LEVELSINDEBTEDNESSINEQUALITYINFORMATION ASYMMETRIESINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINSURANCEINSURANCE COMPANIESINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINVESTINGINVESTMENT COMPANIESKEY CHALLENGELENDERSLIABILITYLIFE INSURANCELOANLOAN CONTRACTLOAN REPAYMENTLOAN TERMSLOW INCOMELOW-INCOMELOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALSMARKETINGMEDIUM ENTERPRISESMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONSMINIMUM BALANCEMONEY LENDINGMORTGAGEMORTGAGE CREDITMORTGAGE MARKETMORTGAGESNATIONAL BANKOFFICE OF FAIR TRADINGOUTSTANDING BALANCEOVERDRAFTPAYMENT SERVICEPAYMENT SERVICESPENSIONPENSIONSPROTECTION OF CONSUMERPROTECTION OF CONSUMERSPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSREMITTANCEREPAYMENTRESEARCH ASSISTANCERESERVE BANKRETAIL CREDITRETAIL FINANCIAL MARKETSRETAIL FINANCIAL SERVICESRETIREMENTRETIREMENT SAVINGSRETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTSSALARIESSALESALESSAVINGSSAVINGS ACCOUNTSSCAMSECURITIESSOLVENCYSTATE BANKTOTAL COSTTRANSPARENCY OF INFORMATIONTYPES OF CONSUMERUNEMPLOYMENTUNIONUNREGULATED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSURBAN DEVELOPMENTUSURYUTILITY BILLSWAGESWEB SITEWITHDRAWALWITHDRAWAL FEESWORTHWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5536