The rapid evolution of financial technology promises to offer many
consumers wider access to better services, but it also raises the stakes
for regulators and supervisors.
And while most fintech firms are small, they can grow quickly, and may
raise risks for people, companies and industries—as the recent collapse of
a major crypto firm shows.
We explore fintech’s various dimensions in a recent podcast series, which
showcases how IMF research and policy recommendations are helping to
advance the global conversation around these complicated and consequential
issues.
Our series charts how technology-driven innovation, including blockchain,
offers benefits such as increased efficiency, competition, and choice. Some
of these advances, though, remain untested and could spark new financial
stability risks.
Here’s how the five episodes of our new podcast series, featuring voices of
leaders from across the Monetary and Capital Market department, expands on
all things fintech:
1.
Fintech as the Future of Finance focuses on the revolution in the global financial system, from the Bahamas
introducing a central bank digital currency, the Sand Dollar, to El
Salvador and Central African Republic adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.
2.
Central Bank Digital Currencies covers the benefits, challenges, and policy considerations around these
instruments, which have been adopted or explored by more than 100
countries. CBDCs have advantages over cash, including promoting financial
inclusion due to their potential to reach people who don’t have bank
accounts, and lowering transaction costs for cross-border payments.
3.
Fintech and Financial Stability explores how crypto assets and equity markets, which showed little
correlation before the pandemic, since began to move
much more closely together. Importantly, crypto is no longer on the fringe of the financial system,
and greater interconnectedness with other assets could facilitate the
transmission of shocks and could be destabilizing for financial markets.
4.
Regulating Fintech establishes how regulation isn’t intended to stifle innovation, but rather
to protect consumers and investors. Without it, fintech could fuel risks
that could potentially even threaten the stability of the financial system
itself.
5.
Fintech in the FSAP goes behind the scenes of our
Financial Stability Assessment Program, a comprehensive look at potential systemic risks, and details how
fintech has come to figure ever more prominently in these regular
evaluations.
The Fund’s podcasts are available on IMF.org and platforms
including
Apple Podcasts,
Spotify,
SoundCloud
and
Libsyn.
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