MIT DCI Hosts a Fireside Chat with Dr. Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements

Technology and the Future of the Financial System

September 26th, 2024 at the MIT Media Lab

Dr. Agustín Carstens (BIS) and Chris Calabia (MIT DCI) participate in a fireside chat and answer questions from MIT staff, faculty, and students. 09/26/2024

Why does innovation in financial services matter to everyone, and how can the public sector support its advancement? On Thursday, September 26, MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative was privileged to host a visit and fireside chat at the Media Lab on these questions and on the future of money with Dr. Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

Because the financial system helps all businesses and consumers to meet their financial needs, Dr. Carstens noted that central banks can play a special role in encouraging financial institutions and markets to adopt better technology to serve them. He spoke with MIT students, faculty, and staff about the research and experiments underway at the BIS Innovation Hub, a world-wide network of seven FinTech research centers that collaborate with central banks to develop public goods to improve the functioning of the global financial system.

In his remarks and during the fireside chat with MIT DCI Head of Programs, Chris Calabia, Dr. Carstens summarized a vision that he and co-author Nandan Nilekani expressed about the future of the financial system called the “Finternet.” As proposed in their paper, the Finternet will allow different financial ecosystems to transact with each other more easily and instantaneously and “empower individuals and businesses by placing them at the centre of their financial lives.”

Mr. Carstens has led the BIS since 2017 and was previously Governor of the Central Bank of Mexico from 2010 to 2017, among other roles. He earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Chicago. MIT DCI students and staff have engaged in initiatives that the BIS sponsors on innovation, including its recent Innovation Summit in Basel this past July and its discussions on Project Mandala on cross-border payments compliance overseen by the BIS Innovation Hub Centre Singapore in 2023.