{
  "id": 89890,
  "title": "Michelle W Bowman: Responsible innovation and financial inclusion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/michelle-w-bowman-responsible-innovation-and-financial-inclusion",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-03T09:17:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BIS Central Bank Speeches",
    "slug": "bis-central-bank-speeches",
    "url": "https://www.bis.org/review/r260730o.htm"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In her speech at the Federal Reserve Board's third annual Financial Inclusion Conference, Vice Chair Michelle W Bowman underlined the significance of financial inclusion in creating a robust and stable financial system that serves everyone. She emphasized that innovation is a crucial tool for banks in expanding access and fostering a more inclusive financial system.\n\nBanks are central to financial inclusion efforts, with responsible innovation playing a pivotal role in developing a faster and more efficient banking and payments system. This not only reduces costs but also broadens product availability to underserved consumers and businesses, promoting market competition.\n\nThe Federal Reserve's role in promoting responsible innovation lies in creating a receptive environment for new ideas and technologies and providing clarity on expectations. However, banks themselves are best positioned to decide when and how to innovate, given their deep understanding of their customers, communities, and risk appetite.\n\nArtificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly important area of bank innovation, with the potential to widen access to financial services and help banks effectively reach low- and moderate-income consumers. AI can further expand access to credit for the un- or underbanked, for instance, by leveraging alternative data sources and refining creditworthiness assessments.\n\nHowever, employing AI in credit-decision making presents more significant legal compliance challenges than other AI applications. Therefore, the primary objective is to support responsible AI innovation by establishing clearer guidance on the appropriate level of oversight for AI applications. This includes ensuring that supervisory guidance does not impede access to and implementation of innovation, considering the unique structure, business, and culture of smaller banks.\n\nThe Federal Reserve has prioritized work on AI within the Financial Stability Board's Standing Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation. Earlier this month, the Financial Stability Board published a report, \"Sound Practices for Responsible Adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI),\" offering practical guidance on adapting to specific circumstances and use cases without prescribing one-size-fits-all requirements.\n\nThe report, subject to public comment through July 22, reflects the ongoing commitment to maintaining an open dialogue between banks and regulators to ensure an adaptive approach to innovation while safeguarding safety and soundness.",
  "summary": "Speech (via pre-recorded video) by Ms Michelle W Bowman, Vice Chair for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, at \"Next-gen financial inclusion\", the third annual Financial Inclusion Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Board, Washington DC, 14 July 2026.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "BIS Central Bank Speeches",
        "title": "Michelle W Bowman: Modernizing financial regulation",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/07/31/michelle-w-bowman-modernizing-financial-regulation",
        "published": "2026-07-31T09:43:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}