banking, insurance and other financial services are being provided to customers, including through mobile and online delivery channels. change and innovation provide opportunities for firms to transform their business models in order to grow revenues and extract cost efficiencies. change and innovation can also bring clear benefits to consumers with better access to financial services, greater choice of product and provider, and new tools to help them understand and manage their finances. however, these new ways of doing business can present risks for consumers too. our clear message to the firms we regulate is that it is their responsibility to identify, mitigate and manage these risks. this can include, for example, risks arising from the speed and ease at which transactions can be completed and the absence of any human interaction or advice to support good decision - making. the extent to which personal data is available to firms is also open to misuse and raises complex ethical questions on appropriate use. and some consumers are excluded from services because they cannot access or struggle with the technology in question - accessing financial services now not only requires financial literacy but also requires a level of digital literacy. this is a challenge for our country that goes beyond just financial services of course. however, if the prevailing plan of firms in financial services is to increasingly migrate to digital delivery ( much of which places greater onus onto the consumer to access the information to inform their decisions ), then those firms who are pursuing this business strategy have a corresponding duty to play their part in building the greater levels of financial and digital literacy that consumers need as a result. all of which is why we say that we want to foster not just an innovative financial sector, but one which is resilient and customer - focused, and sustainably serves the evolving needs of households and businesses. code review in implementing our mandate, we supplement the relevant eu and domestic laws with various central bank codes and regulations, modelled on international best practice. 3 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches the consumer protection code is a cornerstone of the framework – comprising a set of rules and principles that firms must follow when providing financial products and services to consumers. the code was first introduced in 2006 – and we have continued to amend it since then, seeking to ensure it remained fit for purpose over time. three core points are important in that context. first, the code has enabled many of our key interventions to protect consumers – such as the tracker mortgage examination and our work on differential pricing. the code has served consumers well. second, precisely because we have

derville rowland : delivering for the consumer in a changing world remarks by ms derville rowland, deputy governor of the central bank of ireland, at the financial system conference 2022, session 2 " delivering for the consumer in a changing world ", dublin, 2 november 2022. * * * good morning everyone, i would like to welcome you all to the second session of our financial services conference which is focused on " delivering for the consumer in a changing world ". on this day in 1988, a talented computer student in berkeley, california unleashed a computer programme as an experiment on what was then the early internet. the programme was a cyber - worm, and within 24 hours had spread like a virus, affecting 6, 000 of the estimated 60, 000 computers connected to the internet at that point. the fbi, which investigated the case, later said : " whether accidental or not, the first internet attack - was a wake - up call for the country and the cyber age to come1. " i mention this as an illustration that while progress is generally good, it invariably carries new risk. in his book, " the future of money ", academic eswar s prasad writes fluently on this issue in the context of financial services innovation. fintech, he writes, is " changing the world of finance, providing more direct channels that connect savers and borrowers " and, at the least, " will yield an array of financial products and services that better meet the specific needs of households, entrepreneurs, and firms ". the flipside, he cautions, is that " financial innovations will generate new and as yet unknown risks, especially if financial market participants and regulators put undue faith in technology and let down their guard " 2. a cornerstone of the central bank's strategy is that we create the regulatory context in which the potential benefits of innovation for consumers, businesses and society can be realised, while the risks are effectively managed. it is therefore essential that we carefully consider the consumer and investor impacts of the transformational change we are seeing in financial services. this is a responsibility not just for the central bank and the firms we regulate, but the wider state consumer protection framework as a whole. 1 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches the importance of that national framework, and the critical roles played by each component part – from ensuring competition to promoting financial literacy - is something we hope to illustrate in today's panel discussion. we also wish to focus on the way in which the central