Financial Compliance Lags in Haiti’s Financial Services Industry: Experts Warn

Despite efforts to increase financial inclusion, Haiti remains one of the most underserved markets globally. According to recent statistics, a mere 19% of Haitian adults have an account with a financial institution, while only 9% save and 5% borrow from a financial institution - numbers that are among the lowest in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The Haiti Finance Inclusive Project

The Haiti Finance Inclusive project aimed to address this issue by creating a more enabling environment for financial inclusion. By providing low-income individuals with access to basic financial services, the project aimed to empower them to accumulate assets, withstand financial shocks, invest in businesses, and improve their overall financial stability.

Approach

To achieve this goal, the project implemented a two-pronged approach:

• Behavioral Influencing: Increasing information availability and promoting greater awareness of low-income market segments among market actors.
• Collaboration Facilitation: Enabling deeper collaboration among financial sector players and stakeholders to create an enabling environment for financial inclusion.

Sample Activities

The project’s sample activities included:

• Developing a private sector financial inclusion platform
• Strengthening existing financial sector associations, such as ANIMH and ANACAPH
• Conducting research to better understand key low-income market segments and gender aspects of financial inclusion

Additionally, the project aimed to establish an active consumer protection environment to ensure that low-income Haitians are aware of the financial products available to them and can take advantage of digital financial services.

Compliance Challenges

Despite these efforts, compliance remains a major challenge in Haiti’s financial services industry. Experts warn that without a significant improvement in regulatory oversight and consumer protection measures, the country risks missing out on opportunities for economic growth and development.

Conclusion

Haiti’s financial services industry faces significant challenges in terms of compliance, which could hinder its ability to achieve financial inclusion and drive economic growth. It is crucial that regulatory bodies and financial institutions prioritize improving compliance and consumer protection measures to ensure that low-income Haitians have access to basic financial services and can benefit from digital financial innovations.