Note from the Publisher: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which exists under the Federal Reserve, and was the brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren, was recently ruled unconstitutional, but there will no doubt be major pushback on that in the days/weeks/years to come. In the meantime, the agency claims to have met with hundreds of fintechs, and is generally upbeat about the future of banking, payments, etc. that they offer us, once the right regulatory structures are in place. We're just reporting here, btw, and not making any political proclamations. The genie is out of the bottle (LONG AGO) on fintech at large and it will be quite the challenge for our massive government to get their hands around how to manage the industry, which exists under dozens of separate silos. No doubt, as soon as they do, the industry will have moved on long ago. At any rate, the assessment in this story is largely positive, and we're happy to see it.
"The federal consumer finance regulator released a report Monday on consumer-friendly financial-technology products, marking the agency’s first overview of the rapidly expanding industry.
The report covers the work the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has done on its “Project Catalyst,” which aims to encourage the development of innovative consumer financial products that meet regulatory requirements.
Agency officials have met with hundreds of fintech firms to find ways that innovative products can help consumers who don’t have bank accounts or are under financial strain.
The upbeat report comes partly in response to requests from many fintech firms to regulators, particularly the CFPB, for clearer directions on what products they can launch without running afoul of regulations."
Read Full Article at WSJ.com (may require subscription)