OCC hosts virtual Innovation Hours

Bank Regulatory Federal Issues OCC Fintech

On February 3, the OCC announced it will host virtual Innovation Office Hours on March 16 through 17, to promote responsible innovation in the federal banking system. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the OCC established the Office of Innovation in 2016 to implement certain aspects of the OCC’s responsible innovation framework, including, among other things: (i) creating an outreach and technical assistance program; (ii) conducting awareness and training activities for OCC staff, such as implementing an internal web page that provides OCC staff a ‘one-stop-shop’ to access information on industry trends and innovative products, services, and processes; and (iii) encouraging coordination and facilitation among the regulatory community and industry stakeholders. According to the OCC’s recent announcement, office hours are one-on-one meetings with representatives from the OCC Office of Innovation to discuss fintech, new products or services, partnering with a bank or fintech company, or other matters. Each meeting will last no longer than one hour. Interested parties should request a virtual office hours session by February 18.