Maria Stephens of USAID Frames the Discussion on Deposit Insurance and Consumer Risks for MFS

In this video, Maria Stephens of USAID introduces Mobile Financial Services Seminar #4, "Deposit Insurance and Consumer Protection for Mobile Financial Services." She provides an overview of the Mobile Financial Services Seminar series and frames the discussion on deposit insurance and consumer risks within a broader financial systems context.

Bio: Maria Stephens

Maria Stephens is a Senior Technical Adviser with the U.S. Agency for International Development and subject matter expert in mobile financial services risk and regulatory issues with over 18 years’ experience in microfinance and financial economics. While a Financial Economist at the U.S. Treasury Department, Stephens participated in the development of regulatory position papers focusing on derivatives and other related financial products and services. She provided long-term technical support to the Central Bank of China and GTZ to establish PRC’s first private-sector microcredit company, and she is a primary author of the USAID-Booz Allen Hamilton Mobile Financial Services Matrix, and related papers. Stephens holds a B.A. (Hons) in Greek, Latin, and Old Irish from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a M.A. in International Economics, American Foreign Policy and Mandarin Chinese from Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.