Debt by design: Opacity, automation, and inequality in Brazil’s credit and fintech industry

When: Tuesday, December 16, 2025, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Where: Room 2.41, Bancroft Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS

Centre for Labour, Sustainability and Global Production (CLaSP) Workshop

Brazil’s ‘fintech revolution’ has propelled the expansion of the digital economy and advanced financial inclusion, increasing access to consumer credit but also sparking record-high levels of household debt. Through multi-perspective fieldwork among women burdened by debt and professionals in the credit and fintech industry, the article examines three dimensions of opacity: (i) automated scoring models, (ii) flexible credit scoring criteria, and (iii) discretionary information in credit offers. The entrenchment of opacity generates a grey zone that limits women’s ability to assess and contest offers while myths thrive about how to navigate digital finance and improve creditworthiness. The insights challenge a narrative of financial education as a remedy to indebtedness, as deliberate information asymmetries forge debt by design.

The workshop will be facilitated by Dr Marie Kolling (Danish Institute for International Studies).

For programme and more details visit the CLaSP web page. 

Organiser

The workshop has been organised by the HSS Research Centre, Centre for Labour, Sustainability and Global Production (CLaSP)