UMich is hosting the first Future of Fintech conference
About 60 researchers and professionals from the financial industry gathered in the Tauber Colloquium at the Ross School of Business on Friday afternoon for the Future of Fintech conference. The conference focused on the possible roles of financial technology and artificial intelligence in the future of the financial and banking industry. Organized by the University of Michigan Center on Finance, Law & Policy and the Michigan Ross Fintech Initiative, the event consisted of the presentation of four recent research papers and panel discussions on the papers’ findings and real-world implications.
In his opening remarks, Tom Buchmueller, associate dean for faculty and research at the Norwegian Business School, welcomed the participants to the conference and emphasized the importance of bringing experts together for this type of discussion.
“As a leading public institution, the University of Michigan has an important role to play in bringing together researchers, policymakers and industry leaders to talk about important societal issues,” Buchmueller said. “It’s these kinds of interdisciplinary projects that make the University of Michigan very unique and special.”
Researchers then presented on the topics of consumer protection, open banking, artificial intelligence and financial inclusion. At the request of event organizers to preserve research integrity, The Michigan Daily will not cite these panel discussions.
The first paper, presented by Ansgar Walther, associate professor of finance at Imperial College London, focused on the potential impact of machine learning on credit markets. After a panel discussion, the second paper was presented by Greg Buchak, assistant professor of finance at Stanford University, on the practice of open banking, or sharing financial information with third parties. The third paper, presented by Isil Erel, professor of finance at Ohio State University, provided strategies to reduce disparities in access to financial services for marginalized communities. The final paper of the conference, presented by Wei Jiang, professor of finance at Emory University, focused on how companies can change the reporting of financial data in response to the rise of artificial intelligence.
In his remarks at the event, Buchmueller highlighted the potential of these new technologies while warning attendees of their possible consequences. Buchmueller said that while advances in financial technology can spur progress in the banking industry, they can also lead to discrimination against marginalized groups due to algorithmic bias.
“I think there are many reasons to see the promise of these new technologies, both for financial inclusion and for creating products that create consumer value at the same time,” Buchmueller said. “Of course, we need to be aware of possible unintended consequences, especially when it comes to diversity and inclusion.”
Nadya Malenko, director of the Michigan Ross Fintech Initiative, said the conference was meant to highlight topics that are often overshadowed.
“We asked ourselves what conversations are not happening enough … and we realized that cryptocurrency dominated media coverage in a way that prevented other important financial technologies from being discussed,” Malenko said. “These technologies have important policy implications.”
Jeremy Kress, co-director of the Center for Finance, Law and Policy, led the planning of the conference and thanked the event team and their partners in his remarks for organizing Friday’s event.
“I want to say thank you to the Ford School staff who are volunteering today down at the registration table to make sure everyone finds where they are going,” Kress said. “I also want to say thank you to the Law School staff who have been incredibly helpful throughout this process.”
Summer News Editor Mary Corey can be reached at [email protected].
