Howdy Doody
“Howdy Doody” – a cartoon that illustrates that some governments are starting to get the right balance between innovation and regulation in the fintech industry.
Government reps have long been the butt of jokes by the tech industry, for example the hearings of Google and Facebook CEOs back in 2020 where it was apparent everyday use cases of the popular products were misunderstood.
Yet, there is another narrative that policy implementers are getting on with the hard work and starting to produce some good results for the fintech industry.
The July launch of FedNow, which was developed by the US Federal Reserve, provides a new instant payment service that is a flexible, neutral platform that supports a variety of instant payments.
While some of this functionality might already exist among blockchain companies like Ripple, the fact a government entity is allowing fast settlement (from an average of 5 business days to seconds), is a big accomplishment.
Meanwhile, the open banking legislation that the UK launched in 2018 to allow users to own their data and easily transition to new providers, saw 11.4M open banking payments in July this year, which represented a record high and a 102% increase year over year.
Also, the August report by KPMG credited the success of Singapore’s vibrant fintech community of new startups was in part down to the government’s regulatory sandbox and establishment of the Singapore Fintech Association.
These thoughtful and soft touch approaches demonstrate where the government is helping to create the right environment to nurture innovation … maybe something for Gary Gensler at the SEC to think about.
