The results of the presidential and congressional elections will have far-reaching effects on the fintech industry.

The intersection of financial services and technology, otherwise known as fintech, has increasingly come under federal scrutiny, especially to the extent new firms have attempted to offer traditional banking services without having a banking license. To better understand the impact of today’s presidential and congressional elections on the fintech industry, Forbes spoke with several policy experts and executives. They identified three major areas that could see changes: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the partnerships fintechs have with banks to offer banking services and the CFPB’s new 1033 rule that governs consumers’ control over their banking data.

Nearly everyone we spoke with said the most visible changes will be in the CFPB, a federal agency created by the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The CFPB aims to “protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices and take action against companies that break the law.” Over the past four years, the agency has been more active than it was under President Trump, a dynamic that’s apparent in the number of public remarks the CFPB has made, the information requests it has sent to companies and the fines it has levied, says Katherine Flocken, a principal at Washington, D.C., regulatory advisory firm FS Vector. In 2023, the CFPB ordered $3.1 billion in fines and refunds for consumer relief, the largest sum it had ordered since 2015.

If Kamala Harris wins the election and Democrats retain some control of Congress, a similar level of CFPB enforcement and oversight activity could continue as it has under President Biden, Flocken believes. If........

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