Jelena McWilliams explains the agency's decision to enlist the help of tech innovators to modernize a reporting process that the coronavirus epidemic has exposed as outdated.
The so-called tech sprint involving 20 companies from across the country is intended to help improve the efficiency of banks' quarterly data submissions to the regulators.
Thanks to their close relationship with the card networks, banks stand to benefit most from deals like Mastercard’s agreement to buy Finicity and Visa’s pending purchase of Plaid. The prospects for fintechs and consumers are dicier.
Brick-and-mortar merchants that have shifted to online have changed their risk profile, causing conflicts with the fintechs like Square that handle their payments. And that could be an opportunity for banks.
Challengers like Joust, Lili and NorthOne that offer banking services to freelancers and small-business owners are getting record levels of new customers as the traditional workforce thins.
Mastercard has agreed to acquire Finicity for a reported price of $825 million, a move the card brand says will strengthen its open banking platform and expand financial services through more real-time access to data.
Markus Braun turned himself in to Munich prosecutors, who arrested him on suspicion of false accounting and market manipulation; the Wirecard fallout may make it harder for European fintechs to attract investors.
The company, which has yet to turn a profit since it was spun off from Live Oak Bank, said it would use the proceeds for working capital and possibly to make acquisitions.
