Democratic Congressman Bill Foster, who represents the 11th District of Illinois, has sent a letter to Maxine Waters, Democratic Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, to express his “strong interest in serving as the Chair of the Taskforce on Financial Technology and Innovation that will be convened in the coming weeks.”  Ms. Waters announced her plans to create the Taskforce upon becoming Chairwoman.

In his letter (obtained by Politico), Mr. Foster mentions various credentials he holds, including his “prior career as a scientist and small business owner” and his participation as co-chair in the Blockchain Caucus.  He describes the caucus as working “to understand and explore, among other things, how a new and emerging technology can improve government services, curb identity theft, and put consumers in charge of their own identity.”

Mr. Foster indicates that as Taskforce Chair, he would work closely with Ms. Waters and the subcommittee chairs to understand and examine developments in the Fintech industry, “including marketplace lending for consumers and small businesses, partnerships with traditional financial institutions, cryptocurrency, blockchain, alternative data utilized in credit underwriting, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.”

He references the CFPB’s proposal issued last week to rescind the ability-to-repay provisions of its payday loan rule [link to alert] and states that “[i]n the context of this new development, ensuring that the underserved and underbanked communities have options and access to credit beyond predatory lenders will be a concern at the forefront of our inquiry.”  He also states that “although many financial technology companies are not subject to the same regulatory regime as traditional banks, including compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act, the Taskforce would work to examine how such companies can shoulder their fair share of the obligation to help meet the needs of low- and moderate-income communities, and ensure a fair playing field with community banks and other financial institutions.”

Mr. Foster also indicates that the Taskforce would attempt “to better understand the methods by which financial technology companies use complex algorithms to underwrite loans,” and to also understand what steps such companies are taking “to ensure that they do not engage in discriminatory practices that violate fair lending laws.”