Consumer protection is fast becoming one of the defining challenges of the mobile money era. From fraud and impersonation scams to opaque fees and inadequate recourse, the risks facing digital financial services users are growing, and as mobile money scales across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and other emerging markets, so do the vulnerabilities it creates.

This episode takes a hard look at the full arc of consumer protection in mobile money: what the challenge looks like today, where the industry is innovating, and what still needs to change. Regulators in fast-growing markets face a genuine tension — push too hard on protection and you risk stifling the growth that has brought hundreds of millions of people into the formal financial system; move too slowly and those same people bear the cost. 

Grounded in global evidence and policy experience, Jack is joined by Kennedy Kipkemboi, Director of Policy, Regulatory & Advocacy for Mobile Money at the GSMA, to explore what good regulation looks like, how it needs to evolve as mobile money moves beyond payments into credit, savings, and insurance, and what the next chapter of the regulatory playbook must deliver.

Episode Themes

1. A snapshot of the consumer protection landscape in mobile money today, including the fraud typologies growing fastest and the populations most exposed
2. How regulators are learning to strike the balance between enabling mobile money growth and protecting users, drawing on the Mobile Money Regulatory Index, the 2024 Policy and Regulatory Handbook, and the markets that have managed to do both
3. How regulation needs to evolve as mobile money expands beyond payments into credit, savings, and insurance
4. What the next chapter of mobile money regulation needs to look like

About Our Guest 

Kennedy Kipkemboi is the Director of Policy, Regulatory & Advocacy for Mobile Money at the GSMA. In this capacity, he leads GSMA's regulatory strategy for mobile financial services across GSMA's global footprint. Kennedy is an experienced public policy and regulatory affairs practitioner with over 14 years' experience spanning converged telecommunications and financial services. Prior to joining the GSMA, he worked with Safaricom PLC where he held several roles in Regulatory and Public Policy, Financial Services, and Customer Management. He is skilled in Government Relations, Stakeholder Management, and Strategic Planning.

About Our Sponsor

We are proud that CGAP is also the exclusive sponsor of Season 2! CGAP are a global partnership of 40+ development organisations working to advance the lives of people living in poverty through financial inclusion. Housed at the World Bank, its independent research and analysis is available to all as a global public good.

For listeners interested to learn more about the topic, CGAP has produced valuable research:

1. An Ecosystem Approach to Consumer Protection: What, Why and How?
2. Three Lessons from Cote D'Ivoire on Responsible Digital Finance Ecosystems

Follow CGAP on LinkedIn or subscribe to its newsletter.

Connect With Us

Don't miss the remaining episodes of Series 2! Subscribe to Financial Inclusion Unlocked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app.

Join the conversation on LinkedIn at Financial Inclusion Unlocked for video highlights, insights, and updates.