[ad_1]
You’ve probably seen ads for online banking services that seem to offer a lot of great things—you can open an account in minutes, and there are no minimum balances or monthly fees. “This isn’t your parents’ boring, old bank,” the ads seem to say. But here’s the thing: While they may look like banks, they’re not.
These “bank-like” companies fall under the umbrella of “fintech,” or financial technology companies. This story is about the potential risks of putting your money into these apps.
Banks need to survive a series of regulatory tests. But in the past few years, the number of fintech companies that circumvent regulation has increased. Many of these companies pose a real threat to even the most savvy savers.
A few months ago, an obscure tech company filed for bankruptcy, leaving thousands of people without access to the millions of dollars they had saved. On today’s show, we meet some of the people affected and learn about the bank regulation issues that the fintech industry has revealed.
Today’s show is hosted by Erika Beras and Sally Helm. It is produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Sofia Shchukina, with the assistance of James Sneed. Jess Jiang is in charge of editing, and Kevin Volkl is in charge of fact checking. Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez is in charge of planning, and James Willetts is in charge of production. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
Help & Support Planet Money And subscribe to listen to our extra episodes Planet Money+ In Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
These links are always free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR App Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / Tik Tok / We Weekly communication.
Music: Universal Productions Music – “Universal Feel”, “Home of the Brave” and “Bass Gamer”
[ad_2]
Source link
