Gone are We see part of the challenge being that over the last decade, FinTechs have emerged from relative obscurity to become household names for many consumers within the con昀椀nes of the days of highly arcane rules built over decades by various regulatory bodies. There’s undoubtedly a fundamental con昀氀ict when you’re trying to innovate, but also work within the con昀椀nes of playing fast regulations that were built to force large incumbent 昀椀nancial institutions to operate in a speci昀椀c way. Over the years, we have been approached by countless startups that tell us and loose they can improve underwriting in consumer lending, but have never heard of Fair Lending laws nor know how to manage a balance sheet. Yet others have claimed that they are going with Fintech to do away with overdrafts and late fees, but instead encourage tips which drive APRs that regulations. would make payday lenders blush. In such situations, the product and risk orientations of these large FinTech companies are coming to light and we expect to see a change in reactions in consumer behavior and regulator interest. The decisions at the earliest stage of company building tend to be ampli昀椀ed in these situations. How long did the FinTech wait to add an experienced General Counsel and/or Chief Compliance O昀케cer? Have they ever meaningfully engaged with individuals that have regulatory experience as an advisor or independent board member? It is never too early to be thinking about these questions in 昀椀nancial technology. We strongly believe that FinTech winners will be built by teams that can balance creativity and speed with innovation. The earliest decision needs to be how you’re going to work with the 昀椀nancial regulatory ecosystem and not against it. With creative problem-solvers on the team, a FinTech business can often innovate and evolve through ambiguous “analog-ori- ented” regulation. Compliance can and should be used as a selling point to demonstrate customer quality function (and a value add) to avoid fraudsters, protect customers, minimize public insults, and maximize consumer response to complaints. Gone are the days of playing fast and loose with FinTech regs. The scale is here and everyone is o昀케cially on notice. Company building in FinTech is forever changed and we expect you will see the most strategic and strongest companies leaning into creatively solving regulatory challenges from here on out and pitching it as a strong competitive edge. INFRASTRUCTURE IS ENABLING INNOVATION SHARE VISIT PG 12