CRAFT Hosts “Fintech 2040” Meeting to Define the Future of Financial Technology
Hoboken, NJ – June 2025 — The Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT), jointly founded by Stevens Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and supported by the National Science Foundation, hosted its Fintech 2040 meeting on June 6, 2025. The event brought together approximately 50 leaders and innovators from academia, industry and government to envision the long-term future of financial technology.
Facilitated by Dr. Ann Murphy, the collaborative workshop invited participants to identify the most significant strategic challenges and opportunities that will shape fintech over the next 15 years. Representatives attended from major financial institutions, consulting firms, startups and universities across the tri-state area and beyond, including participants from Washington D.C., Lincoln, Nebraska and Toronto, Canada.
Eight Strategic Challenges Emerge
Through a structured brainstorming and synthesis process, participants identified eight overarching strategic challenges that will define the trajectory of fintech:
AI Adoption
Security and Risk Management
Innovation, Scalability, and Cost
Governance and Regulation
Trust and Ethics
Customer Experience and Literacy
Technology Integration with Traditional Financial Institutions
Macroeconomic Factors and Externalities
AI adoption emerged as a cross-cutting theme, viewed as fundamental to every other challenge. The group ranked Security & Risk Management, Innovation & Scalability and Governance & Regulation among the most pressing priorities for the next generation of fintech solutions.
Lively Collaboration and Shared Insights
Participants emphasized the importance of balancing innovation with ethical responsibility and security. Many noted the growing need for transparency, fair governance, and new models of collaboration between fintech startups and traditional financial institutions.
Key themes also included the necessity to upskill the workforce, promote financial literacy in the age of AI-driven systems and build public trust through responsible adoption of emerging technologies.
Toward a CRAFT FinTech 2040 White Paper
The meeting served as the foundation for a forthcoming Fintech 2040 White Paper, which will consolidate insights, define each challenge in depth, and propose actionable strategies for industry and academic collaboration.
To continue this work, CRAFT plans to establish a Fintech 2040 Task Force, co-led by academic and industry representatives, to refine findings and oversee development of the white paper. Once completed, the document will be distributed widely across the fintech ecosystem to inform policy, research and corporate strategy.
About CRAFT
The Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT) is the first National Science Foundation Industry–University Cooperative Research Center devoted to fintech innovation. Through collaborative research and strategic partnerships, CRAFT aims to advance responsible and secure financial technologies that benefit businesses, consumers, and society at large.
For more information about CRAFT or to become an industry partner, contact [email protected].
