Understanding Financial Abuse: Why the Financial Sector Should Care?

Financial abuse is a set of behaviours that control an individual's ability to acquire, use, or maintain financial resources, undermining their financial security and self-efficacy.

For women and girls, it is often intertwined with intimate partner or domestic violence. Whether through coercive debts, control over bank accounts, or limiting financial choices, this form of abuse often goes unnoticed due to deeply rooted gender norms.

For financial service providers, the implications go beyond the impact on clients. Financial abuse can pose credit, operational, reputational, and KYC risks. So, why should the financial sector pay attention, and how can it act?

Over the past four months, FinEquity has engaged its community of practice to define this issue and develop a learning agenda. While this is a new area, early insights, and strategies are emerging that can help financial institutions better understand and address financial abuse.

Join our panel as we delve into what financial abuse looks like within financial systems, why it matters to the sector, and actionable steps providers can take to address it.