FINANCIAL abuse affects Papua New Guineans and financial institutions have a role to play in preventing and responding to it, says Bank of PNG governor Elizabeth Genia.
Last week, the Bank of PNG supported financial institutions to address financial abuse and product misuse in the financial sector, through a workshop under its Empower Finance Kibung initiative.
It held discussions with financial institutions to introduce a survey on financial abuse, a code that institutions will assign to financial capability, management, literacy, training, safety and counselling.
Genia said that financial abuse was an issue BPNG took seriously, and that all financial institutions had encountered financial abuse situations affecting customers.
“Financial abuse affects people in very real ways,” she said.
“It is also a serious matter for the financial system.
“The issues of safety and consumer protection are called into question when financial products and services are misused.
“Which means dealing with financial abuse is clearly within our mandate as regulators.
“It is something that can affect anyone – organisations as well as individuals and family groups.”
Empower Finance Kibung is a community of practice that brings together representatives from financial institutions across PNG for an in-person workshop designed to build a shared understanding of financial abuse and the role of financial institutions in preventing and responding to it.
The workshop, held last week, was to introduce participating institutions to the Empower Finance Kibung, outlined the projects objectives, the learning pathway, and establish a foundation for collaboration, trust, and peer learning.
The workshop was designed to:
- BUILD awareness and shared language around financial abuse and how it differs from fraud and scams, and position financial abuse as a core business and risk issue, not just a social concern;
- SUPPORT institutions to define their role in preventing and responding to financial abuse, within their mandates and operating contexts;
- KICK-start a structured peer learning, grounded in practical tools, lived experience, and regional context;
- LAY the groundwork for action, diagnostics, and action plans to be developed and implemented over the course of the programme;
- PROPOSE voluntary financial abuse code; and,
- CELEBRATE this important milestone with participants and other key stakeholders.
