FinTech: Balancing Innovation and Consumer Protection

Financial technology (or ‘FinTech’) is changing the way industry practitioners, consumers, and policymakers think about innovation in the financial sector. Algorithmic underwriting improves credit opportunities for underserved markets, blockchain technology makes financial transactions open and transparent, cryptocurrencies change the way we think about money, and real-time payments systems slash the costs of credit intermediation. FinTech offers an impressive array of opportunities for economic growth. 

Those opportunities, however, also bring new challenges. Are 20^th century banking regulations compatible with 21^st century banking technology? How should policymakers balance the promise of innovation against the potential risks to consumers?

Please join panelists Brian Knight, Senior Research Fellow, Financial Markets Working Group at the Mercatus Center and Margaret Liu, Senior Vice President, Conference of State Bank Supervisors, for a lunch discussion on:

• The current state of FinTech;
• The opportunities and challenges FinTech presents;
• The role of policymakers in promoting innovation while protecting consumers; and
• The appropriate level of federal preemption in FinTech regulation.

This event is free and open to the general public. This event has been planned in accordance with the widely-attended event exception to congressional gift rules and government ethics memoranda. Lunch will be provided (please let us know of any dietary restrictions). Due to space constraints, this event is not open to interns.

Questions? Please contact Jen Campbell at jcampbell@mercatus.gmu.edu or 703-993-4967.