S Temsusenla Ao
Immanuel College
The world Consumer Rights Day is celebrated every year around the globe on 15thMarch. It has been celebrating ever since 1983 after U.S President John Fitzgerald Kennedy stated his speech on U.S. Congress, in which he mentioned about the four fundamental Consumer rights – the right o safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose and, the right to be heard. Thenceforth, the celebration of World consumer Rights Day has been observed with a particular theme every year. The theme for this year 2022 is based on Fair Digital Finance.
With the faster growing digital technologies, the key factors for consumer financial services are altering the payments, lending, insurance, and management of wealth. To protect the consumer from frauds, scams, phishing, and data malpractices. One should know about the digital financial knowledge irrespective of age for safety and security which is the two prime factors of consumers. The Consumers International and Our Global Membership developed a consumer vision for fair digital finance. This vision sets about the consumer rights prospective to build a digital and financial marketplace to protect and safeguard the consumer rights. This World Consumer Rights Day will spark the first-ever global conversation on the consumer vision for fair digital finance.
According to the Global Consumers Advocacy Movement which calls for the theme Fair Digital Finance for consumers was to generate new consumer-cantered insight and campaigns for digital finance to safe, protect, and sustainable which will embark making the case for solutions that put consumer rights at the core of meaningful and long-lasting change. This digital finance will bring new opportunities but risk as well which can lead to unfair means for consumers. Therefore, the Consumers International has given the theme on Fair Digital Finance to prevent the consumers from unfair outcomes for consumers and to build digital knowledge to understand and protect oneself while using financial services by consumers in digital world. Digital financial services and financial technology have driven significant changes across the world and according to the Juniper Research report 2020, by 2024 the digital banking of consumers is expected to increase by 3.6 billion. The year 2022 will bring a crucial movement for change with the upcoming of international policy movements such as G20 and OECD review of High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection. Thus, the quick developing and complex nature of digital financial services demonstrate the need for innovative regulatory approaches and digital financial services, products that centre consumer protection and empowerment. And it requires for all to achieve the fair digital finance around the globe, collaborative and coordinate approach. Digital finance can increase the likelihood that the most vulnerable are left behind.
