Fintech, Blockchain, and the Upgrade of the Global Payments Systems│Bruce Tuckman (NYU Stern)

Blockchain technology, introduced 15 years ago, promised near real-time payments at low cost and without intermediaries. Since that time, however, fintech—predominantly without blockchain—has dramatically increased the speed, convenience and access of payments. This talk 1) gives an overview of traditional payments systems in terms of central bank vs. private money, real-time gross vs. batch net settlement, and bank payment "rails"; 2) illustrates the success of recent fintech innovations using the examples of India's Unified Payments Interface, Square's financial services platform, and Kenya's M-Pesa money transfer service; and 3) describes blockchain's sortie into cross-border payments using the examples of Ripple and various stablecoins.