Tech Coalition Urges Trump to Promote FinTech Development

By Rebecca Campbell for CryptocoinsNews

Financial Innovation Now (FIN) has called on President-elect Donald Trump to embrace FinTech to improve financial services for consumers and small businesses.

Notably FIN, a tech coalition that includes Apple, Google, PayPal, Intuit, and Amazon, is urging Trump to appoint a Treasury Undersecretary who will be responsible for developing a national vision and coordinated strategy to ensure America wins the FinTech race.

In its letter [PDF] to Trump, FIN states that the appointment of a Treasury Undersecretary would ‘work across all federal financial regulators to foster competition and innovation in an antiquated banking sector to better serve consumers and the economy.’

The letter goes on to say that technology and the Internet are changing, which is producing a change in how consumers and small businesses manage money, access capital, and grow commerce. As such financial regulators around the world are paying attention to this change and how they can adopt the technology which will attract further investment.

It says:

While America’s financial regulators and Congress have recognized this potential on a bipartisan basis, more leadership and federal coordination is necessary.

Adopting a National Vision

FIN is urging Trump’s administration to adopt a national vision and coordinated strategy. For it to achieve this, the group is calling for action across several key public policy areas.

These include the promotion of open, interoperable standards for card payment security, streamlining money transmission licensing, ensuring consumer access to financial accounts and data, streamlining small business access to capital through the Internet, helping consumers and businesses manage money with real-time payments, and leveraging mobile technology to increase financial inclusion.

The letter adds:

You campaigned on a promise to bring change to Washington, and your business experience, unique for any incoming President in history, offers a rare leadership opportunity that we believe sets the stage for modernizing some of our most antiquated financial rules.

Bitcoin Appointment

Only recently Trump appointed bitcoin investor, Peter Thiel, to his presidential transition team.

It remains to be seen, however, whether Trump will be a good thing for the FinTech sector or even bitcoin itself.

A recent report, which looked at bitcoiners thoughts on Trump do not paint a flattering picture for when he officially becomes the next president of the United States.

For now, though, making sure that the U.S. remains a contender in the FinTech race is of the utmost importance for the country as London and city-state Singapore remain the top two FinTech global hubs.

First appeared at CCN