Consumer Financial Products and Services: What Role Can ASEAN Play?

Abstract

ASEAN has shown a capacity to be able to develop regional networks and systems for gaining financial stability. This suggests that ASEAN could develop effective networks to facilitate information sharing and capacity building for member agencies responsible for consumer finance. This paper briefly explores the ways ASEAN member states protect and promote the consumer finance marketplace, which offers a diverse array of products and services, including mainstream banking services.

The ASEAN Blueprint 2025 mentions the objective of advancing financial inclusion, although there appears to be relatively little active engagement with the issue on a regional basis. This is the case despite international organisations such as the World Bank, the BIS and the G20 taking the issue seriously. This paper explores how financial inclusion could be advanced in ASEAN.

Fintech offers the ASEAN regional grouping opportunities for advancing the interests of financially included and excluded consumers alike. Fintech raises complex regulatory issues explored in the paper. It requires government agencies and regulators to comprehend, deal with and take advantage of fast moving and complex developments. These are difficult issues for domestic agencies to deal with on their own. This paper proposes that ASEAN members would likely gain considerable benefits from the agencies responsible for consumer protection and financial oversight in each member country engaging in regional networking to deal with the challenges.