In the wake of the global financial crisis, countries around the world have been grappling with the need to develop a modern consumer financial protection system that simultaneously protects consumers and preserves and encourages competition, choice, and innovation. Rapid technological innovation promises the development of novel consumer products and seamless payment systems, but also raises novel issues of consumer privacy and data security. At the same time, the rapid growth of consumer protection agencies means that many lawyers and economists are coming to the field with little formal training in the economics or history of consumer credit, payment systems, data security, and related fields of study.

The LEC hosted The Consumer Credit Academy to provide a foundation for regulatory officials in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere to learn about the related fields of consumer credit, consumer payment systems, and consumer data security, highlighted by a field trip to Visa’s state-of-the-art payments processing facility.