Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima joins WSBI and the “Smart Campaign” to discuss access to finance and ‘fair pricing’

On Wednesday, 2 December, Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima joined WSBI in Brussels for a discussion of 'fair pricing' for financial services to particularly low income groups in developing countries. The meeting was organised by the “Smart Campaign”.

The Smart Campaign is a worldwide initiative of prominent players in the field of micro-finance which aims to support microfinance institutions in providing transparent, respectful, and effective financial service to customers. In addition to transparent and affordable pricing, important elements of consumer protection also include the prevention of too much debt and ethical staff behavior.

Princess Maxima spoke along with WSBI Managing Director Chris De Noose concerning the importance of access to financial services and underlined the crucial role of access to savings accounts for the low income groups. In September 2009 Princess Maxima was appointed Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. Princess Maxima advises Ban Ki-moon concerning access to financial services and also works worldwide in to make financial services accessible for everyone. Access to finance is especially important for the development of low income groups. In many countries, poor people are not are able to open current or savings accounts, gain access to insurance, or micro-credit.

Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima and Chris De Noose, Managing Director WSBI and ESBG