Russian Microfinance Center (RMC) President Mikhail Mamuta highlighted the goal of the Russian Federation to reduce the percentage of its population without access to formal financial services during the XII National Conference on Microfinance and Financial Inclusion held on 23-25 October 2013 in Moscow, Russia. RMC, a member institution of AFI, co-organized the event with the overarching theme of “Innovation and Consumer Protection – Implementing Client-Centric Approach”.

Mr. Mamuta articulated an intent to cut the percentage of unbanked people from its current level of 25 percent to less than 10 percent in 2017.

During the conference’s opening ceremony, AFI Executive Director Alfred Hannig discussed the importance of financial inclusion in achieving inclusive growth and offered his gratitude in particular to the Russian Presidency of the G20 for maintaining financial inclusion at the top of the international economic agenda.

In focus at the conference was the recent expansion of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation’s regulatory and supervisory powers to become a mega-regulator with oversight of the microfinance sector and additional previously informal sources of finance such as pawnbrokers. It is hoped the change, which was mandated by the Russian Parliament and began 1 September 2013, will create a level playing field of providers, increase competition and improve levels of consumer protection within the microfinance sector.

“The intensity of growth will depend on the level of protection,” said Mr. Mamuta.

Conference sessions concentrated on the potential for innovation in business models – such as new partnerships between banks and MFIs – and examined how to ensure ethical practices are embedded in the MFI sector in the interest of increasing and maintaining the trust of consumers.

Additionally, AFI hosted a roundtable for member and non-member policymakers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to explore the potential for regional collaboration on topics such as digital finance and consumer protection. It featured participation of the RMC, Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Central Bank of the Russian Federation, National Bank of Ukraine, Central Bank of Armenia and the Kazakhstan Microfinance Organization.