Smart Business
(by Sue Ostrowski featuring Moore Capito)
For years, the banking industry has functioned in the same ways it always has. But FinTech — financial technology — is revolutionizing the way things are done and increasing access to financial tools for those who may not have previously had it.
“At its core, FinTech is when you have the convergence of an emerging technology and a financial service,” says Moore Capito, shareholder at Babst Calland. “It’s using innovation to compete with traditional methods of delivering financial services.”
Smart Business spoke with Capito about how FinTech is revolutionizing the financial industry, the opportunities it presents and challenges it poses.
How is Fintech Changing the Financial Industry?
There are a lot of unbanked, or underbanked, people that have difficulty accessing the traditional banking industry. FinTech products, sometimes in collaboration with a traditional bank, can provide better financial services to these individuals, especially in rural areas where there is less access to bricks-and-mortar banks.
There are potentially endless applications, from insurance to mobile banking, cryptocurrency, investment apps, and financial products including mortgages — the most well-known being PayPal. The onset of COVID accelerated the necessity and the willingness to adapt with FinTech, doing more transactions remotely from phones and bringing finance directly to individuals, instead of individuals going to a physical banking location.
On the economic development side, entrepreneurs are coding programs that create the functionality behind the apps. And states such as West Virginia have created regulatory sandboxes for FinTech entrepreneurs. These let participants apply to come in and test their products in the marketplace without going the traditional regulatory route, allowing them to become viable and ready for commercialization before becoming regulated by state agencies. …
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On September 8, 2021, the Department of Energy (DOE) released its