Financial technology, known as fintech, is everywhere. If you send money by phone or invest with the help of robo-advisors, you’re using it. Its proponents say by lowering costs, it can expand the range of financial services providers can offer and the pool of people who can afford them. 

But fintech presents risks, including to privacy. Fintech companies aren’t subject to the same regulations as traditional financial institutions when it comes to handling personal data. And some worry regulatory safeguards aren’t keeping up with fintech advances. 

Amid the uncertainty, fintech’s role in financial services keeps expanding. How will fintech change the landscape for consumers? Can banks adjust? And will it make a real difference for those long shut out of traditional financial services? 

Download the paper Harvard Business School professor Emily Williams presented at the Economic Conference, “Fintech, Financial Inclusion, and the Future of Finance.” Watch the session she spoke at, titled “Innovative Financial Technologies and Financial inclusion.”