FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams Encourages Greater Collaboration between Community Banks and FinTechs

FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams encouraged greater collaboration between community banks and FinTech firms (or "FinTechs").

In a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Ms. McWilliams stated that community banks have lagged behind their counterparts due to, among other things, high costs and regulatory uncertainty. She said community banks must keep up with technological developments in general, and, emphasized, in particular: (i) digitization, (ii) data access, (iii) machine learning / artificial intelligence and (iv) personalization.

Ms. McWilliams explained that the FDIC offers resources for community banks. She noted that the FDIC Tech Lab (or "FDiTech") helps to create a regulatory framework for community banks to remain competitive. She said the FDIC is working to:

• identify and address unnecessary regulatory burdens that might disrupt technological developments;

• utilize tech sprints to address specific problems within the banking industry; and

• coordinate with FinTechs to pilot new products and services.