What if fintechs measured not just credit risk, but also the risk of economic abuse?
New fintech services, such as payment apps and online banking, promise to make it easier to access money and expand financial inclusion in Latin America. However, they can also become tools for abuse. In some cases, abusers take advantage of fintech services to monitor, manipulate, or restrict victims’ access to money. This type of abuse is recognized as part of gender-based cyberviolence, defined by the Organization of American States and UN Women as any attack that causes harm or suffering (including economic harm) through the use of digital technologies (UN Women & OAS, 2022). Organizations such as the National Network to End Domestic Violence warn that digital financial abuse can include controlling bank accounts, withholding funds, or monitoring expenses to maintain power over the victim (NNEDV, 2024).
This type of abuse is not hypothetical. In Latin America, research by Fundación Karisma has shown that digital violence replicates the control dynamics of the physical world, but its impacts are aggravated by the ease of dissemination, anonymity, and the omnipresence of digital environments (Fundación Karisma, 2020). For example, a person may be pressured to hand over the password to their banking app to a partner or family member, allowing that person to access the account at any time, review transactions, and make decisions on how the money is spent. In other cases, the abuser may install monitoring apps on the victim’s phone or take control of the device, allowing them to receive alerts for every transaction, block payments, or transfer funds without consent. Geolocation, embedded in many financial apps, can also become a tool for covert stalking (Stop Violencia de Género Digital, 2025).
Some studies have even documented forms of harassment through the written messages in transfer fields. In New Zealand, ASB Bank has reported cases in which abusers used the payment description field to send threats or intimidating messages, such as “come home” or “I’m watching you,” which was recognized as a form of digital financial abuse (ASB Bank, 2025).
All of these examples of abuse through fintech services are recent manifestations of a much older problem: economic abuse. Economic abuse occurs when an abuser controls a partner or ex-partner’s money, resources and income. It is a topic that we have explored in depth in our recent study, “Economic abuse in Latin America: What do we know so far?”, which examines the current evidence for economic abuse in the region. The study finds that the emergence of digital financial services is one of the key trends currently shaping economic abuse in the region.
Despite this reality, mechanisms to identify or prevent abuse through digital financial services have yet to be incorporated in Latin America. There are few, if any, clear protocols in the design of digital products that treat economic abuse as an operational or ethical risk. The fintech sector does not provide help channels, confidential reporting tools, or indicators to detect potential coercive use of the application. It is noteworthy that even innovative projects promoting financial education with a gender perspective do not explicitly address the problem of economic abuse facilitated by technology (CONDUSEF, 2024).
Incorporating indicators for the risk of abuse is a necessary strategy for the ethical design of digital financial products. There are patterns that could be interpreted as signs of possible coercion. For example, if an account changes devices frequently, shows logins from multiple locations, or exhibits unusual behavior in password management, it could indicate that the account is being manipulated by someone other than the account holder.
There are also best practices that fintechs could adopt without compromising their business model. Some institutions allow the creation of secondary accounts with different passwords hidden from the abuser, or design confidential communication features within the apps to provide assistance without putting the victim at risk. In Latin American contexts, where many people share devices and passwords out of necessity, such features become even more relevant. Fintechs could include notifications to alert users of suspicious logins, add options to strengthen privacy by default, and train support teams to offer safe pathways to help for victims.
These measures would not only mitigate potential harm but also strengthen user trust in digital services. Financial inclusion cannot be assessed solely by the number of people with bank accounts, but also by the extent to which those people can use services safely, autonomously, and free from coercion.
Assessing the risk of abuse in the fintech sector could contribute to a fairer and more protective financial ecosystem. Evidence demonstrates that digital economic abuse is real, silent, and often invisible to platforms. Recognizing it means critically reviewing authentication systems, privacy practices, and usability from a perspective that takes user safety and dignity seriously. This is not a matter of slowing down innovation, but enriching it with ethics.
References
ADEBA. (2021). Protocolo para protección de víctimas de violencia de género. Asociación de Bancos Argentinos.
ASB Bank Ltd. (2025). Dealing with financial abuse: Keeping you and your money safe.
CONDUSEF & AMIS. (2024). Proyecto Minerva: Educación financiera con perspectiva de género. Comisión Nacional para la Protección y Defensa de los Usuarios de Servicios Financieros.
Derechos Digitales. (2025). Violencia de género facilitada por la tecnología en América Latina y el Caribe: situación de acceso a la justicia.
Fundación Karisma. (2020). Violencia digital contra la mujer en Colombia.
NNEDV. (2024). Financial abuse and technology. National Network to End Domestic Violence.
ONU Mujeres & OEA. (2022). Ciberviolencia y ciberacoso contra las mujeres y niñas en el marco de la Convención de Belém do Pará. Organización de los Estados Americanos.
Stop Violencia de Género Digital. (2025). ¿Herramientas de geolocalización para ejercer violencia de género digital? Una amenaza invisible cada vez más común.
Women’s Shelters Canada. (2025). Digital financial abuse toolkit. Tech Safety Canada.
