Introduction

Abstract

As the Introduction to Banking on a Revolution, this chapter summarizes recent technological advancements and their applications to banking and ?nance. Despite the potential for ?nancial technologies, or “?ntech,” to expand access to banking and ?nance, this chapter presents the challenges with ?ntech that can undermine a ?nancial system revolution. For example, racism in the ?nancial system is so common that it even has its own hashtag: #BankingWhileBlack. Without critical investigation of technological advancements and their potential for disparately impacting Black and Brown communities, ?ntech may further embed banks’ racialized exploitation, advance forms of ?nancial surveillance, and confer advantages to whites.