The Financial Technology Association held its inaugural Fintech Summit, “Shaping the Future of Finance,” in Washington, DC, and on a live virtual broadcast on November 16, 2022. 

The Summit featured fireside speakers Adrienne Harris, Superintendent of the NYDFS; Elizabeth Kelly, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy; Congressman Warren Davidson, Ranking Member of the Task Force on Financial Technology; Rodney Hood, Board Member and former chair of the NCUA; and Ryan Sandler, co-founder and CEO of Truework, on the power of fintech to drive consumer-friendly competition and expand access to financial services.

Panelists touched on pressing fintech policy issues like the future of fair and inclusive credit, establishing consumer data rights through Section 1033 rulemaking, and how fintech helps small businesses grow and succeed.

WAtch the summit here

FTA CEO Penny Lee and New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne Harris at the FTA Fintech Summit in Washington, DC.

Adrienne Harris, Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services on financial inclusion: “I like to think about the human experience with financial services. Does somebody trust the service that they’re dealing with? Does it make their lives easier, not harder, or less complicated? Can they improve their economic situation in meaningful ways? … The key for un and underbanked and marginalized communities is, do they have a choice, can they make financial decisions that empower them?”

Elizabeth Kelly, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House National Economic Council, and Angelena Davis, Head of Policy and Government Relations at the Financial Technology Association

Elizabeth Kelly, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House National Economic Council on fintech spurring competition: “Fintechs can play a really pivotal role in spurring competition [by] leveraging new types of data, technology, innovative business models, and bundling services and introducing new services in a way that can benefit consumers. We’ve already seen tremendous growth in this space over the last ten years. and we’re seeing the results: fintechs have given Americans more ways to pay, and they’ve underwritten borrowers that have struggled to find traditional lenders.” 

Congressman Warren Davidson, Ranking Member of the Task Force on Financial Technology, House Financial Services Committee, and Bennett Richardson, President of Protocol.

Congressman Warren Davidson, Ranking Member of the Task Force on Financial Technology, House Financial Services Committee, on a fintech regulatory framework: “Fintech is going to fundamentally change our economy…All the potential doesn’t happen, and happen the right way, if we don’t get the regulatory framework right. Foundational to this is privacy and if the consumer has the property right, you can flow it across all kinds of platforms and make the data more functional.”

Rodney Hood, Board Member and former Chairman of the National Credit Union Association, and Angelena Bradfield, Head of Policy and Government Affairs at the Financial Technology Association.

Rodney Hood, Board Member and former Chairman of the National Credit Union Association, on the future of credit unions and fintech: “NCUA will be opening its fintech office, I hope, by the end of the year. I’ve been very intentional about calling it the Office of Innovation and Access…Through the proper deployment of innovative tools, we will be able to spur greater inclusion and access.”

Ryan Sandler, Co-Founder and CEO of Truework, and FTA CEO Penny Lee

Ryan Sandler, Co-founder and CEO of Truework on his company’s mission: I was looking at how we could bring control and ownership of really important data, income data, to the consumer, at a time when it was a really black box, and dominated by one company…Can we create a better solution that is more private?” 

(L-R) Meredith Fuchs, General Counsel at Plaid; Tom Devlin, Managing Counsel, Office of Regulations, at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Sharon Anne Kean, Senior Director of Expansion at Wise; and Jo Ann Barefoot, FTA Advisory Board Member.

Tom Devlin, Managing Counsel, Office of Regulations, at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Meredith Fuchs, General Counsel at Plaid; Sharon Anne Kean, Senior Director of Expansion at Wise; and Jo Ann Barefoot, FTA Advisory Board Member, discussed the importance of establishing consumer data rights through Section 1033 rulemaking to continue spurring consumer benefits and choice.

(L-R) Kelly Cochran, Deputy Director at FinRegLab; Alex Marsh, Global Head of Public Policy at Klarna; Teddy Flo, Chief Legal Officer at Zest AI; Robin Nunn, Partner at Morgan Lewis; and Penny Lee, CEO of FTA

Teddy Flo, Chief Legal Officer at Zest AI; Alex Marsh, Global Head of Public Policy at Klarna; Robin Nunn, Partner at Morgan Lewis; and Kelly Cochran, Deputy Director at FinRegLab, discussed fintech innovations paving the way for a fairer and more inclusive future of credit, and how to advance a regulatory framework that encourages innovation and protects consumers.

(L-R) Sabrina Howell, Assistant Professor of Finance at New York University; Connie Evans, CEO of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity; David Quinn, Chief Financial Officer at Bluevine; and Daniel Gorfine, Senior Policy Advisor at FTA

David Quinn, Chief Financial Officer at Bluevine; Sabrina Howell, Associate Professor of Finance at New York University; Connie Evans, CEO of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, discussed the power of fintech to break down barriers to small businesses, particularly regarding access to credit for minority-owned small businesses.