Apple has joined forces with Amazon, Google, Intuit, and PayPal in order to better educate Washington lawmakers about technology in the financial sector. The group wants to ensure that uninformed lawmakers don’t inadvertently stifle technology in the financial industry.
“A technological transformation is going to make financial services more accessible, more affordable and more secure,” said Brian Peters, executive director of Financial Innovation Now. “The challenge in Washington is making sure policymakers understand that, and they’re comfortable with it, and they don’t apply old rules to new technology.”
The organization believes that financial innovation will “empower consumers by improving access to financial tools and services, increasing convenience and ease of use, and helping users save money and lower costs.”
Financial Innovation Now will promote policies that aim to:
- Realize trust and safety of new technologies
- Leverage technology to reduce barriers and enhance access for the underserved
- Enable real-time payments clearing processes
- Expand the online marketplace for consumer and small business lending
- Unlock the power of financial applications
The organization will work to prevent lawmakers from hindering technological progress in the financial sector by making sure they have the proper knowledge to avoid introducing bills such as the January law proposed by a Missouri lawmaker that would require shoppers to show photo ID whenever they used a mobile payments service such as Apple Pay. (For future reference by Missouri voters, that was Democratic Representative Joshua Peters.)
