#Fintok and Financial Regulation

37 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2022 Last revised: 15 Mar 2023

See all articles by Nikita Aggarwal

Nikita Aggarwal

UCLA School of Law; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye

University of Leeds

Christopher K. Odinet

University of Iowa - College of Law

Date Written: September 12, 2022

Abstract

Social media platforms are becoming an increasingly important site for consumer finance. This phenomenon is referred to as “FinTok,” a reference to the “#fintok” hashtag that identifies financial content on TikTok, a popular social media platform. This Essay examines the new methodological possibilities for consumer financial regulation due to FinTok. It argues that FinTok content offers a novel and valuable source of data for identifying emerging fintech trends and associated consumer risks. As such, financial regulators should use FinTok content analysis—and social media content analysis more broadly—as an additional method for the supervision and regulation of consumer financial markets. The Essay test-drives this method using audiovisual content from TikTok in which consumers discuss their experience with “buy now, pay later,” a rapidly growing and less regulated form of fast, digital credit. It reveals tentative evidence of payment difficulties and strategic default in the buy now, pay later credit market, with attendant consumer protection risks. These insights provide a point of entry for the further study and regulation of the buy now, pay later credit market.

Keywords: tiktok, fintech, financial regulation, consumer finance, content analysis, empirical, CFPB, enforcement, rule making, supervision, market monitoring, BNPL, credit, lending

Suggested Citation

Aggarwal, Nikita and Kaye, D. Bondy Valdovinos and Odinet, Christopher K., #Fintok and Financial Regulation (September 12, 2022). 54 Arizona State Law Journal 333 (2023), U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2022-26, UCLA School of Law, Law-Econ Research Paper No. 23-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4216952 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4216952

Nikita Aggarwal

UCLA School of Law ( email )

Institute for Technology, Law & Policy
385 Charles E Young Drive E
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye

University of Leeds

Leeds, LS2 9JT
United Kingdom

Christopher K. Odinet (Contact Author)

University of Iowa - College of Law ( email )

130 Byington Road
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://law.uiowa.edu/people/christopher-odinet

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