As part of its Global Policy Initiative,Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) partnered withthe Superintendence of Banks, Insurance and AFPs of Peru inlate 2008, with the purpose of enhancing the understandingof the issues and trends in consumer relations whenfinancial services are delivered through branchless banking,particularly through agents, which are used in everincreasing scale in Peru. The product was this joint report.Three other countries with relevant experience in branchlessbanking (Kenya, Brazil and India) participated in a similarexercise at approximately the same time. As in the case ofPeru, the exercise gave an opportunity for regulators ofeach jurisdiction to look at their regulatory andinstitutional framework for protecting branchless bankingusers, evaluate their regulatory and supervisory actions,and identify areas for improvements. A forthcoming CGAPfocus note complements the effort, by making an overallevaluation of the lessons learned in these countries anddrawing on the knowledge from other pioneer countries suchas South Africa, Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines. Thefocus note will point out and address priority areas ofconcern and possible regulatory and policy options toaddress them. The first part of the report outlines thefinancial inclusion efforts currently being undertaken bythe Superintendence. The following section summarizes themost important points of the legal and regulatory frameworkfor financial consumer protection, pointing out anyspecificity of branchless banking. The third part describesthe branchless banking business in Peru and describes theissues and problems identified in the relationship betweenbranchless banking clients and providers, and thesupervisory and enforcement implications. The last sectiondraws conclusions and makes recommendations for achieving abalance between openness to innovation and protection in abranchless banking environment.
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