Retail & Inclusion | Finance Watch

Policy portal Retail & Inclusion

Access to financial services for individuals is a prerequisite for social inclusion, a decent standard of living during working and retirement age and protection in case of unexpected life events. Unaffordable offers and discriminatory practices are some of the barriers preventing many citizens from accessing the basic financial services needed to participate in modern life.

EU policymakers have a responsibility to remove these barriers and make the retail financial services market safe and fair. Rules are also needed to help citizens avoid over-indebtedness and offer a way out for those who find themselves in this difficult situation. And all of this must extend to the digital world (See also “digitalisation” under “Digital Finance“).

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68 PUBLICATIONS

Open letter

18/03/2024

Retail & Inclusion

Joint Statement on the EU Retail Investment Strategy

On Monday 18 March, Finance Watch, BETTER FINANCE, and the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) issued a joint statement in reaction to the compromise text for the EU Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) currently...
Policy brief

19/09/2023

Retail & Inclusion

Policy brief – Citizens are not the product

In this policy brief, Finance Watch outlines the improvements that need to be made to the EU Commission proposal on the open finance framework currently being discussed by the EU co-legislators to...
Policy brief

19/10/2022

Retail & Inclusion

Root causes of household over-indebtedness

Without strong consumer protection legislation and proper public social security systems, the risk of financial difficulty is left to chance, making people vulnerable to predatory schemes. In this short policy brief, Finance...
Position paper

30/05/2022

Retail & Inclusion

Position Paper on the Retail Investment Strategy

To ensure that European citizens can safely invest in capital markets, both online and offline, improvements are needed to enhance the EU retail investor protection framework.
Consultation response

27/04/2022

Retail & Inclusion

Response to the ESMA consultation on guidelines for MiFID II suitability requirements
Position paper

25/04/2022

Retail & Inclusion

Factsheet – Creditworthiness assessment for small loans: the key to prevent consumer over-indebtedness

Small loans are high risk for consumers, in particular for vulnerable consumers. Sound creditworthiness assessments are therefore necessary for small loans. This factsheet co-published by a European Coalition of NGOs on the...
Report

24/03/2022

Retail & Inclusion

Report – Tackling causes of over-indebtedness in the EU consumer credit market

This report presents the findings of the study as well as detailed policy recommendations for the CCD review.
Consultation response

28/02/2022

Retail & Inclusion

Amending the Mortgage Credit Directive to address consumer protection issues, digitalisation and green mortgages
Report

20/01/2022

Retail & Inclusion

Report – From debtor prisons to being prisoners of debt

Making the case for harmonised EU consumer insolvency rules. A Finance Watch report showing that consumers in the European Union face unequal access to relief when personal debts outstrip ability to pay...
Consultation response

27/09/2021

Retail & Inclusion

Response to consultation: Directive on Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services
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The blog corner

Retail & Inclusion

Level:Regular

08.02.2023

Gender Equality efforts in Europe have stalled. Can better Consumer Protections get it moving again?

Retail & Inclusion

Level:Regular

24.05.2022

Will the revised EU Consumer Credit Directive fully protect vulnerable consumers?

Retail & Inclusion

Level:Regular

12.04.2022

With inflation, unregulated financial products will harm the vulnerable even more. Unless…
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