Dr. Chris Brummer: I am now delighted to welcome Patrick Njoroge to FinTech Week, who many of you around the world are familiar with. Mr. Njoroge is the governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and is joining us to talk about Mpesa, and the path breaking innovation the country has initiated, and the plans that he has looking forward. Mr. Njoroge, thank you so much for joining us here over at DC FinTech Week.
Patrick Njoroge: Thank you, Chris. Thank you very much for inviting me to appear in this presentation and this fintech week.
Dr. Chris Brummer: So, you know, I think many viewers certainly who are at our conference may take perhaps Mpesa for granted a little bit because it’s there and it’s been such a spectacular success. But maybe you could talk to us just a little bit about where Mpesa came from and what it took on your end or at least on Kenya to get such an expansive program up and going. A little bit about the history of the Mpesa. …
The following comes from an interview with Professor Brummer June 1, 2020 for Homo Digitalis
In recent years, cryptocurrencies have significantly grown in popularity, demand and accessibility. New “stablecoins” have emerged as a relatively low-risk asset category for institutional investors, whereas new “altcoins” have attracted retail investors due to their availability on popular fintech platforms.
These developments have amplified some of the risks inherent in the decentralized and immutable nature of the blockchain technology on which cryptocurrencies rely. …
Chris Brummer is a Georgetown law professor and host of the Fintech Beat podcast, produced by CQ Roll Call.
In the fintech community, financial inclusion isn’t usually a question about whether it’s needed, but is instead about which one of a growing number of technologies is best suited to achieve it — or will be first out the gate with a practicable solution. And even where technologies are identified and named, it doesn’t take long to discover that any particular tool can in fact comprise a suite of similar but conceptually distinct paths and options.
Take, for example, the conversation on digital dollars driving policy conversations on the Hill and beyond. Almost universally, it’s understood as a solution to address financial inclusion and the difficulties the federal government has faced in moving dollars to those who need it. But in many regards the term digitization is just a catchphrase: the dollar is already digitized — in the form of digital facilities throughout the financial system, from credit and debit cards to online bank accounts. …
Chris Brummer is a Georgetown law professor and host of the Fintech Beat podcast, produced by CQ Roll Call. You can also subscribe to his free newsletter for weekly posts like this.
One reason I, along with many people of color, have found fintech to be especially interesting has to do with its potential — in the right hands — of dramatically increasing financial opportunities for people who have long been underserved in the financial economy. …
Chris Brummer is a Georgetown law professor and host of the Fintech Beat podcast, produced by CQ Roll Call. You can also subscribe to his free newsletter for weekly posts like this.
Last week, all eyes were on bitcoin’s halving. And, at least ostensibly, for good reason: it’s not every day that the supply of new bitcoins is cut in half. (Actually, it’s every four years). …
Chris Brummer is a Georgetown law professor and host of the Fintech Beat podcast, produced by CQ Roll Call. This Article was published in April 2020, prior to the $500 billion supplemental support package passed by Congress to bolster the economy.
One difficulty sure to come from the COVID-19 pandemic — after the foreclosures, bankruptcies and deaths — is a crisis in credit scores. With experts expecting unemployment rates to reach the mid teens, and institutions like the St. Louis Fed seeing the possibility of 32 percent unemployment, it’s not hard to imagine peoples’ credit standings cratering in a matter of months. …
Cash is king. And policymakers can’t exactly tell if that’s a good thing or not.
Although the drivers are in dispute, the data are not. In 2018, the Federal Reserve reported something that most merchants know too well: that paper money continues to beat out digital spending in U.S. commerce, capturing 30 percent of all transactions and more than 50 percent of sales under $10. Indeed, as of Jan. 8, 2020, there were $1.75 trillion in Federal Reserve notes in circulation, driven in part by a preference even among credit card reward members for cash over cards.
Figure 1. Payments Type, Share of All…
Recently, I had the honor of speaking to the Secret Service Service and offering my thoughts on the future of cybercrime for agents and others grappling with rapid changes in the financial system. My advice was pretty simple: Any strategic futurist looking to anticipate the future of not only finance, but also financial crime, can’t lose the forest for the trees. The many changes arising in today’s financial infrastructure — from cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies to mobile payments — invariably involve some conceptual and practical change in the meaning of “money.” …
Chris Brummer is a professor, lecturer, author, and founder of Washington DC’s Fintech Week. He teaches at Georgetown University Law Center, where he serves as the Faculty Director of the Institute of International Economic Law.
Dr. Brummer has over a decade of experience researching the development of financial and regulatory policy and the considerable impact that technology has on how authorities operationalize supervision and regulatory oversight. He has also lent his expertise to nonprofits and policymakers, and offered his insights as to how firms and governments can best understand and react to new developments and challenges in the financial system. …
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