The Future of Fintech and COVID-19

On Wednesday morning, Axios co-founder & CEO Jim VandeHei discussed the economic fallout of COVID-19 with the founder of Humanity Forward and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, covering the stimulus package, job loss and data privacy.

• Andrew Yang on the long-term effects of job loss: “A lot of people who lost their jobs are never going to see their jobs again…We’re going to see 10 years' worth of change in 10 weeks."
• Andrew Yang on the need for increased financial support: "[The government] needs to make very dramatic moves to allow millions of Americans to have, frankly, the knowledge that they can feed their families in the days to come."
• He didn't rule out a run for New York City mayor in 2021, saying he "wants to help solve the problems that are coming down the pike."

In a View from the Top segment, Jim VandeHei was joined by Vault12 Co-founder and CEO, Max Skibinsky to discuss the impact of coronavirus on consumer privacy.

• Max Skibinsky on the coming shifts around privacy: "In the next couple of years we're going to see a massive clash between people's desire for privacy and governments' around the world much greater desire for surveillance."

Axios Business Editor Dan Primack and Credit Karma founder and CEO Kenneth Lin unpacked the future of financial security, honing in on how consumers can be proactive with their finances.

• Kenneth Lin on empowering consumers: "Consumers are hopelessly outgunned in many ways...banks and financial services companies have so much data…and we’ve always tried to level the playing field."

• Kenneth Lin on whether our financial data and our health data could be merged to make lending decisions: “It’s pretty far off because of data privacy and protection…but there will be a moment in time where consumers will have control of their financial data.”

In the concluding 'Why it Matters' segment, Jim VandeHei and Dan Primack answered reader questions, discussing industry-specific impacts.

• Dan Primack on business operations: "Flying could be the biggest change for companies in rethinking how they operate in the wake of the pandemic...Business travel is one thing that's definitely going to change."

Thank you Vault12 for sponsoring this event.