Is central banking getting cool, as fintech is hotter and hotter?

 

During the first years of their development, Facebook has created an idea that most of the fintechs are now following. To be moving fast, and breaking the standards. Mark Zuckerberg could be treated as an embodiment of ‘breaking things’, and his figure goes really well with today’s disruptors. Although Facebook is no longer the ‘hot stuff’, the idea was basically the same.

This ‘to break things’ philosophy could be easily applied to today’s disruptors, who are challenging the status quo. But there are some banking institutions that you wouldn’t consider as the ones matching the motto. These are, of course, the central banks, the regulators, and rule-makers.

They are required to be the prime example of stability and morality. In the world fearing the outcomes of Covid-19, they should be the last bastions defending the citizens’ pockets and accounts. But with the developing fintech branch of the financial market, should we be expecting the central banks to innovate more? Or maybe it’s already happening?

How can central banks be innovative?

Digital developments are starting to appear everywhere in the world of finance, and it looks like central banks have begun to incorporate more and more fintech-inspired solutions and innovations into their actions.

Benoît Cœuré is the BIS Innovation Hub (Bank for International Settlements) head. Before that, he was working for one of the biggest central banks in the world - ECB (European Central Bank), as a member of the executive board.

Today he’s a strong propagator of innovative and creative thinking in central banking. In his opinion, these institutions have always had to innovate, but only in recent years, we’ve seen others take over the role. He believes in non-disruptive innovation and the continuous development of banking.

To find a Disruption Banking piece with Ian Hall’s analysis of the topic, and brilliant quotes from the experts, use the following link: https://disruptionbanking.com/2021/05/04/as-fintech-gets-hot-is-central-banking-becoming-cool/.