As banks and credit unions are increasingly using financial technology or “fintech” for financial services, the government watchdog is urging Federal financial agencies to do more to improve their workforce’s technology skills.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging Federal financial agencies to do more to identify critical fintech skill gaps in their workforce and improve those skills – such as data analysis – to better oversee fintech and make policy for it.
According to GAO, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) require their staff to have some level of technological skills.
Some examples of these skills include knowledge of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cloud adoption – as well as knowledge of how financial technology partnerships operate.
“However, the agencies have not systematically or comprehensively collected data on their policymaking and oversight staff’s technological skills related to financial technology or conducted assessments to determine the financial technology skills these staff need,” the GAO report says.
“The agencies also have not measured the effectiveness of their financial technology training in addressing their skill needs,” it adds. “By fully incorporating leading workforce planning practices, the agencies could help ensure their staff have the knowledge and skills needed to effectively conduct policymaking and oversight related to financial technology.”
GAO recommended that all five agencies collect staff skillset data and fully incorporate leading workforce planning practices.
CFPB, NCUA, and OCC already have offices that are dedicated to addressing innovation in financial technology or the financial industry more broadly. Therefore, GAO is also recommending that these agencies develop performance measures for their innovation offices.
Additionally, GAO wants CFPB, the Federal Reserve, NCUA, and OCC to develop performance measures for their supervisory technology strategic objectives.
NCUA agreed with the recommendations. CFPB, FDIC, the Federal Reserve, and OCC did not agree or disagree with the recommendations but indicated that they would take action to implement them.
