Money 20/20 Takeaways: Gen AI, Open Data and a Cloud of Dust
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Generative AI was the marquee attraction at this year’s Money 20/20 conference. The events team did its usual stellar job bringing key names to the podium- sector leaders Open AI, Nvidia, and Anthropic were well represented at the executive and panel level, sharing perspectives that haven’t yet become table stakes on the conference circuit.
The CFPB’s Personal Data Rights Rule: Exhale, but Don’t Get Comfortable
After nearly a year of deliberation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finally issued its final rule governing personal data rights, which is widely expected to set the framework for open banking in the US. Across 594 pages, the CFPB still somehow managed to kick the can down the road on several critical decision points.
Battle Lines Being Drawn on Illinois Interchange
When Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed The Interchange Fee Prohibition Act into law in late June, it was already clear the legislation’s impact would radiate well beyond the state’s borders. The speed and intensity of the national reaction has nonetheless been surprising- reaching a peak (for now) with last week’s amicus brief by the OCC blasting the law as “unworkable.”
Big CU Energy on Display at FinovateFall
It didn’t take a futurist to predict that artificial intelligence would be the most visible technology on display at FinovateFall. But AI’s progress was not the main story at the annual conference that recently wrapped up in New York City. For me the key takeaways were the healthy cohort of up-and-coming companies, and an apparent tipping point in credit unions’ prominence in the fintech ecosystem.
A State of Confusion- Interchange Battles Move Closer to Home
The tension between federal and state-level banking legislation is a never-ending source of heartburn. Businesses naturally crave less regulation, in order to limit compliance costs and avoid barriers to innovation. Given the choice, however, they’d nearly always prefer a single federal standard to a patchwork of state edicts that can make compliance difficult-verging-on-impossible.
Artificial Intelligence, Intellectual Property, and Missing the Point on “Her”
Let’s start with the presumably obvious: Generative AI is a transformative technology. It’s not going away, and it’s poised to alter countless business processes- in mostly constructive ways, if we play our cards right.
Exploring the Issuer Aspect of the Visa/Mastercard Settlement
Media coverage of last week’s Visa/Mastercard settlement predictably- and appropriately- focused on the impact to merchants and the card network behemoths. Fortunately most news outlets avoided the dubious claim that consumers would somehow benefit from the estimated $30 billion fee concession (there were exceptions- looking at you, New York Times).
First Mover Advantage? The EU’s AI Act Sets the Legislative Tone
(PSD2) to govern open banking. US legislators are finally getting to it now, with a framework rather similar to PSD2.
The Capital One/Discover Deal- A Test of Typical Battle Lines (and a Credit Union Angle?)
In a sector that’s seen no shortage of fascinating recent deals (PSCU/Co-Op, Fiserv/First Data, the aborted Visa/Plaid combination, the “never mind” FIS/Worldpay merger), this one may be the most fascinating yet.
Detangling OpenAI’s Palace Intrigue
In a world where personal privacy has essentially vanished, it’s ironic that we may never know the full story of OpenAI’s mid-November boardroom coup. John Best and I attempted to detangle the saga’s various threads on a wide-ranging episode of The BIGCast. As a companion piece, here’s a somewhat tidier synopsis of the complex and mysterious path leading to CEO/Co-Founder Sam Altman’s brief exile.