White House Officials Gather With Fintech Leaders and Regulators
http://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-officials-gather-with-fintech-leaders-and-regulators-1465596037

Administration holds ‘FinTech Summit’ focused on the industry’s potential to advance economic policy

U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker spoke in Lagos, Nigeria, in January. On Friday, the official led a panel discussion on the government’s role in fintech. PHOTO: SUNDAY ALAMBA//ASSOCIATED PRESS

Updated June 10, 2016 6:27 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—White House officials met privately with regulators and leaders in the financial technology industry Friday to discuss how the government can work with innovators.

The half-day event called the “FinTech Summit” largely focused on how government agencies can tap into the innovation, in which new firms are offering small-business owners and consumers faster forms of loans and digital payments. Federal regulators have been studying the industry to determine how it can be regulated while still encouraging innovation.

On Friday, the White House took it a step further by inviting some of those regulators and key players “to discuss how fintech can help advance critical economic policy priorities,” Adrienne Harris, special assistant to the president for economic policy, wrote in a blog post following the event.

“Technology isn’t just changing the financial services industry, it’s changing the way consumers and business owners relate to their finances, and the way institutions function in our financial system,” said Ms. Harris, who led the event. “From consumers’ financial health to growing and managing small businesses; from cybersecurity to helping developing nations prosper; and from big data to blockchain—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.”

The summit, which was closed to the news media, included officials from the Treasury Department, the Small Business Administration, and leaders in both fintech and traditional banking.

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker led a panel discussion on the government’s role in fintech and how those firms are partnering with each other and banks. The Commerce Department recently kicked off its own “innovation” series in which Ms. Pritzker met with fintech companies to encourage public-private partnerships.

Other speakers included Marla Blow, a former top official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who helped start FS Card Inc., a fintech credit-card company with a focus on subprime borrowers. Ms. Blow spoke on the “changing landscape of financial services,” according to an agenda obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

Summit participants also discussed the “big data” report released by the White House in May that addressed how such data can be used to offer credit to underserved consumers but also poses civil rights and privacy risks. Roy Austin, deputy assistant to the president for urban affairs, led that discussion, examining how fintech firms use such data.

The event concluded with a discussion on how fintech firms are a “potent enabler” for developing countries. The conversation was led by Gayle Smith, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“Mobile phone-based payment systems are making vulnerable communities more resilient, allowing governments to operate more transparently,” Ms. Harris wrote. She also said they could be the foundation for businesses in remote areas “so that households living beyond the electricity grids in East Africa can access clean energy for the first time and Indian villages can develop sustainable water systems.”

The panel concluded that the public and private sectors need “to align around a common vision and work together to lay the foundations for modern, inclusive economies,” Ms. Harris said.

Write to Rachel Witkowski at rachel.witkowski@wsj.com