Using online retail search data, this article explores how dramatic shifts in consumer behavior during the quarantine affected algorithms used to manage inventory, sell ads, and screen for fraud. It underscores the role of informed and timely governance – including human intervention – to ensure algorithm performance.
Will Douglas Heaven, MIT Technology Review
This article examines the prospects for minority-owned businesses for navigating the economic crisis brought by COVID-19, given that they are less likely to have a financial cushion, are concentrated in communities and industries severely affected by the pandemic, and may face particular challenges participating in relief programs.
Hannah Knowles, Washington Post
A variety of technology companies have adapted software and platforms to support emergency small business lending. This article explores the various ways in which fintechs have helped banks implement the Paycheck Protection Program, including allow banks to automate application review and underwriting, collecting and verifying documents, and transmitting information to the Small Business Administration.
Miriam Cross, American Banker
The economic effects of COVID-19 are beginning to narrow lending in the mortgage market and point to a return to the period between 2010 and 2013 in which only borrowers with nearly pristine credit could obtain a mortgage.
Michael Neal and Laurie Goodman, Urban Institute
Concerns about spreading the virus have shifted many transactions to digital formats – either contactless payments or online pre-orders. This article explores the financial inclusion effects of a cash-less economy.
Nancy Scola, Politico
The IRS has had trouble getting stimulus money to people quickly because of reliance on a network of tax preparation intermediaries to distribute funds. This article explores whether this infrastructure disproportionately affected low- and moderate-income people who were eligible for relief.
Paul Kiel, Justin Elliot and Will Young, Pro Publica
This article charts how FinTech companies are deploying new technology pilot programs to aid in COVID recovery. The article references several companies deploying big data analysis capabilities and notes uses of distributed ledgers for settling trades.
Peter Feltman, Roll Call
This IMF blog post from the IMF considers one pathway for protecting the global banking system amid the pandemic. Pointing to the experience of the 2008 crisis and recovery, the authors recommend requiring transparent loss reporting, relying on capital and liquidity buffers to support continued lending, and encouraging loan modification.
Tobias Adrian and Aditya Narain, IMF Blog
This article addresses risks related to the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning models that were trained on and use data that overweight benign credit conditions.
Jacob Kosoff, American Banker
This brief from the World Economic Forum evaluates how the use of personal data – and business models for monetizing that data – might evolve as firms respond to the pandemic. For example, machine learning algorithms previously deployed to analyze consumer tastes could be deployed to track viral detection.
Murat Sönmez
