FRB Governor Says Fintech Innovation Offers Solutions For Financial Inclusion

Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") Governor Lael Brainard argued that more needs to be done to encourage financial inclusion and to improve access to credit for underserved families and small businesses. She stated that FinTech developments "may be combined in powerful ways to bring end-to-end solutions to financial inclusion."

In a speech at the FinTech, Financial Inclusion Conference, Ms. Brainard stated that while access to accounts and credit are lowering transaction costs, such developments are not sufficient. She argued that continued progress toward financial inclusion is likely to require solutions that are designed with an understanding of issues that the underserved face (e.g., many unbanked or underbanked people in the U.S. are deliberately choosing not to maintain a bank account). According to Ms. Brainard, access to credit is important in mitigating financial vulnerability.