Introducing the Future of Finance.
Technology-driven innovation is transforming the way we offer, access, and benefit from financial services and markets in the United States. By using internet and mobile platforms, machine learning, automation, and other modern technologies to deliver financial products and services, financial technology (“fintech”) companies are improving efficiency and transparency, broadening equity, access and inclusion, reducing costs, and increasing choice and opportunities for consumers and businesses.
These advances are coming at a critical time for the American economy. Millions remain underbanked or underserved, income and wealth inequality continues to grow, and small businesses seek to rebuild from the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fortunately, fintech solutions offer a welcome new paradigm for equitable financial services and are reshaping the financial landscape in powerful ways:
- Modern payments systems are reducing costs and speeding the delivery of funds, which may be the difference between having to pay an overdraft fee or not;
- Lending platforms and innovative approaches to underwriting are expanding fair access to capital for consumers and small businesses;
- Personal finance apps are helping consumers improve their financial health by prioritizing paying back high-cost debt, managing personal cash flows, and avoiding fees;
- AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning), cloud, and blockchain-based innovations are upgrading financial infrastructure to reduce costs and drive efficiencies; and,
- Fintech platforms are expanding equity ownership, offering long-term investing strategies, and providing low-cost access to advice and opportunities previously available only to a select few.
Though internet, mobile, and computing technologies have been expanding throughout financial markets and services for decades, 2020 accelerated these trends as COVID-19 set off unprecedented disruptions worldwide. Economic disparities are increasingly apparent and the demand for change is increasingly pronounced. Examples of delayed government relief efforts due to distribution or technology gaps have highlighted opportunities to further upgrade financial infrastructure in the U.S. And against the backdrop of an ongoing public health crisis, economic uncertainty, and novel social restrictions, consumer behavior and preferences have continued to shift.