WASHINGTON– A new “tech sprint” designed to explore new technologies and techniques that would help expand the capabilities of banks to meet the needs of unbanked individuals and households has been announced by the FDIC.
The FDIC said its tech lab, FDITECH, is launching a “first-of-its-kind tech sprint by challenging participants to identify better resources and tools to help banks get unbanked households into the banking system and to keep them banked.”
Banks, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, private sector companies, and others are invited to participate.
“While most people deal with money every day, many are still unbanked,” said FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams. “This tech sprint is a public challenge to reach that ‘last mile’ of unbanked Americans.”
‘Deep Roots,’ But…
FDIC Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji added, “Community banks have deep roots in their communities but often lack access to the resources that would allow them to reach those who remain outside our banking system. We are challenging those who participate in our tech sprint to identify the untapped data and innovative tools that can help community banks overcome those vexing obstacles to a more inclusive banking ecosystem.”
The FDIC noted its recently published How America Banks, which is a survey of household use of banking and financial services, found that while nearly 95% of U.S. households were banked (i.e., had a bank or credit union account), more than seven-million households were unbanked. Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native households remain significantly significantly more likely to be unbanked.
Question to Answer
Given what it said are the challenges reaching the “last mile” of unbanked households, the FDIC is asking potential tech sprint participants to help answer the following question: “Which data, tools, and other resources could help community banks meet the needs of the unbanked population in a cost-effective manner, and how might the impact of this work be measured?”
In a few weeks, the FDIC said FDITECH will open registration for the tech sprint. Interested parties will have two weeks to submit applications requesting participation. After a brief review of submissions, FDITECH will invite a select number of teams to participate. Selected teams will attend a kick-off meeting and then work on their proposed solutions for a period of approximately three weeks, the FDIC said.
Finally, the FDIC said FDITECH will host a “Demo Day” and will invite teams to make short presentations to a panel of experts who will evaluate their submission.
No monetary prizes are being offered.