Consumer Reports developed a Fair Digital Finance Framework to influence financial design standards that will create the conditions in which a fair digital economy can flourish. This framework outlines six principles that guide the evaluation of fairness and accessibility of digital finance products:
- Safety: Digital finance products are secure and minimize risks.
- Privacy: Users have control over their data and understand what is collected, how it is used, and with whom it is shared.
- Transparency: Digital finance companies communicate with users in a complete and meaningful way.
- User-Centricity: Digital finance services center user needs and experiences.
- Support for Financial Well-Being: Digital finance services support users’ financial well-being.
- Inclusivity: Digital finance products and services seek to minimize barriers to access and use.
The Fairness by Design Playbook builds upon Consumer Reports’ Fair Digital Finance Framework by incorporating insights from three years of market testing and hundreds of hours of industry engagement to guide the design of products to meet critical customer needs and leverage emerging technologies and trends to create a better customer experience.
As a practical tool and resource, this playbook provides actionable recommendations for stakeholders across financial product design, compliance, risk management, and leadership roles when developing, marketing, or updating a product.
Consumer Reports is committed to evaluating products through the lens of Fairness by Design, and we look forward to partnering with companies to support their work with valuable market insights and feedback.