Financial technology executives, including top brass at Betterment, Wealthfront and Paypal, met with government agencies during a private fintech summit at the White House earlier this month.
The White House wanted to tap into the minds and workings of the tech companies, as well as financial institutions, trade groups, regulators and policymakers, according to those in attendance. Some of the topics discussed were how to better serve consumers' emerging needs and foster industry innovation while maintaining regulations and managing cybersecurity.
"We spent the day identifying those areas where partnership across industries and between the public and private sectors can help advance our financial well-being and economic prosperity," Adrienne Harris, special assistant to the president for economic policy, wrote in
a blog post.
One of the biggest takeaways was how financial technology innovations are making advice more accessible to consumers.
“There have always been ways for the well-off to get access to these types of investing and retirement planning services, but I believe attendees were especially optimistic about how technology is bringing that same access to those that were previously underserved,” Quinten Farmer, co-founder of Even, an app that helps consumers stabilize their income, wrote in an email.
Startups in software and websites are automating, and thereby lessening the expenses of, certain financial services. By hosting this event, the White House was able to see where it needed to advocate or push initiatives so that startups, government agencies and others could support financial inclusion.
“That's what was top of mind of the White House: That advancements touch everyone and not the few,” said Cherian Abraham, digital payments and commerce executive at Experian.
Online automated investment platforms, which often serve individuals otherwise not receiving advice from traditional institutions, have kept on the government's good side.
Wealthfront got a shoutout from DOL Secretary Thomas Perez
during a congressional hearing last year in which he used the company as an example of a fiduciary. Ali Rosenthal, Wealthfront's vice president of strategic partnerships, participated in the FinTech summit, and is also a member of the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship.
Betterment, as well as Financial Engines and Morningstar's HelloWallet, partnered with the Social Security Administration last year to incorporate monthly Social Security data into clients'
RetireGuide plan.
“Innovation is making advice and financial management accessible to more people than ever before,” said Jon Stein, chief executive of Betterment.
The availability of customer data between firms was another discussion point, according to attendees. As it stands, financial institutions cannot — and in some cases, are not willing to — easily share client data. But having that information in the picture when a person is determining how best to save for retirement or find appropriate loans, for example, allows for more holistic considerations. In order for all parties to feel comfortable with this, though, institutions and third-parties need to ensure data is secured.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also is staying mindful of new financial developments. It is hosting a forum next week with banks, financial technology companies and consumer groups to discuss the best ways to support responsible innovation. The OCC was also at the White House summit.
"Businesses and consumers expect more from financial institutions, and technology opens the door to products we couldn't have imagined even a decade ago," Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said at an American Banker conference in April.
