After announcing during the ABA Annual Convention last month that the FDIC will create an innovation office, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams last night offered additional insight into what such an office would look like when up and running. In remarks at a fintech event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, McWilliams said FDIC staff will focus specifically on how the agency can provide an safe environment for innovation that is already ongoing; how it can promote technological development at community banks with limited resources; what policy changes are needed to support financial services innovation; and how the FDIC can transform itself to enhance financial system stability, ensure consumer protection and reduce regulatory burden.
“[I]nnovation can introduce safe and reliable products and services that will bring more Americans into the banking system,” McWilliams said. “It is my goal that the FDIC lay the foundation for this next chapter of banking, encouraging innovation that meets consumer demand, promotes healthy and successful banks, and reduces compliance burdens.”
