Discrimination, Vulnerable Consumers and Financial Inclusion Fair Access to Financial Services and the Law

Thisbook addresses the questions of discrimination, vulnerable consumers, and financial inclusion in the light of the emerging legal, socioeconomic, and technological challenges. New technologies– such as artificial intelligence-driven consumer credit risk assessment and Fintech platforms, the changing nature of vulnerability due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the sophistication of digital technologies, which help circumvent legal barriers and protections– necessitate the continuous study of the existing legal frameworks and measures that are capable of tackling these challenges. Organized in two major parts, the first addresses, from multiple national angles, the idea of a human rights approach to consumer law, in order to replace the mantra of economic efficiency that characterizes financial services with those of human dignity andfreedom from discrimination and from debt-induced servitude. The second tackles the challenges posed by increased usage of technology in connectionwith financial services, which tends to solve, but also creates, additional issues for consumers in general, and for vulnerable groups in particular.

Introduction: Discrimination, Vulnerable Consumers and Financial Inclusion (Stanescu & Gikay) PART I Tackling Issues in Consumer Credit: The Role of Human Rights (Ondersma) Beyond Negative Interpretations of Freedom of Contract: The Interplay between Private Law and Human Rights in Light of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Varney) Anti-discrimination Efforts for Insurance Consumers: Legislation and Practice in Mainland China (Kailiang) Vulnerability, Financial Inclusion, and the Heightened Relevance of Education in a Credit Crisis (Iheme) The Payments Revolution: Towards Financial Exclusion or Inclusion? (Rochemont) PART II Inside the Black Box: the Impact of Machine Learning on the Creditworthiness Assessment (Atkinson) Consumer Peer-to-Peer Lending and the Promise of Enhancing Access to Credit: Lessons from the Netherlands (Buit) Digital Debt Collection. Opportunities, Abuses andConcerns (Stanescu) Financial Conduct in the UK’s Banking Sector: Regulating to Protect Vulnerable Consumers (Powley and Stanton) Are Some Classes of Consumer-Investors of Collapsed Pyramid and Ponzi Schemes Vulnerable? A Multi-Jurisdictional Perspective (Tajti)

Catalin-Gabriel Stanescu is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Market and Economic Law, University of Copenhagen. Asress Adimi Gikay is Lecturer at Brunel University London with his research focusing on Artificial Intelligence, Law and Ethics.