A key learning moment in my career happened in 2012: After spending several years as a product professional in the automotive industry, 我转到一家国际金融服务公司负责产品. 在第一个月, I worked diligently on solving a process issue around online term deposits that was triggering numerous customer complaints. 我与运营团队进行了交谈，以了解如何处理定期存款请求, 与客户交谈 理解用户视角，并亲自承担了定期存款流程，亲身体验了这个问题.

基本上, I took the steps any good product manager would take and came up with what I 虽然t was a brilliant solution. 它很快就被产品主管否决了. 的原因? 它违反了金融科技法规.

What I hadn’t taken into account is that fintech products are bound by stringent policies and laws—meaning the usual ways of working aren’t always applicable. 有效地解决问题并推出成功的产品, 我需要采取不同的方法.

在世界各地，金融科技监管差异很大. 尽管 巨大的投资 在行业和消费者使用激增, 目前还没有针对任何地区制定正式的金融科技监管框架. 而, 您的产品可能受到多个监管机构和团体的管辖. 在美国, 例如, a company in the payment business must comply with regulations set by the Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 等. The situation is further complicated by the way regulations often differ at the federal and state levels, 因此，一个解决方案可能会受到多层许可的约束.

十年来 fintech industry has taught me to embrace this complex regulatory environment rather than be hindered by it. 该行业的持续增长意味着大量的机会 产品经理, so now is a great time to learn how you can seamlessly build compliance into your development process.

将您的法律团队视为关键利益相关者

第一个, 也许最重要的是, you should seek input from the company’s legal team throughout the fintech 产品开发 process. Their role is to interpret the regulations and guide you; your role is to create great products within those parameters. Consult with them as soon as you have potential product ideas and use their feedback to determine which ones to take forward.

请注意, 虽然, 你可能需要为法律团队弥合产品或技术方面的知识鸿沟. 最近, a legal team I worked with requested one-time password (OTP) customer authorization at two points in an online application process, 旨在反映应用程序物理版本所需的两个签名. I helped them understand that customers would not be able to skip any pages in the online experience, 事实上，我们会在每一页上记录下客户的旅程, confirming that they had seen the information before confirming their identity via an OTP at the end. 通过向法律团队解释数字测井软件, we were able to create a simpler UI with limited input from the customer while still complying with regulations.

法律团队也不太可能熟悉 敏捷管理方法，因此可能需要澄清产品团队的流程和时间表. 虽然你应该在每个阶段都考虑到法律问题, 要求他们参加日常的站立表演可能会超出他们的带宽, 特别是如果你是大公司的一员. 可选邀请将为他们提供一个表达任何紧急关切的平台, 作为他们参加sprint演示和计划会议的补充.

即使你有内部法律团队, 你需要寻求外部顾问的建议. 当产品法规复杂或模棱两可时，这一点尤为重要, so that if a dispute arises the company can demonstrate to regulators that information was cross-checked externally. 这很贵，所以一定要做好预算.

律师事务所通常有至少一到两周的周转时间, 一旦收到响应, 后续查询可能代价高昂. 记住这一点, 当需要法律投入时，定义关键的里程碑, 积极安排会议, 将响应时间考虑到你的产品计划中. 在与外部顾问分享的简报中过度沟通, 描述您可能构建的所有潜在解决方案, 减少在您的路线图更改时需要寻求进一步建议的可能性.

注意用户的额外负担

而一个好的产品经理总是会考虑用户的观点 产品开发, the fintech regulatory environment demands that extra care be taken to make interactions as clear and seamless as possible, 同时保持合规. 用户可能不明白为什么要求他们提交个人信息, 例如, 所以要确保 用户界面设计 features clear explanations for these additional asks and that you translate industry jargon into consumer-friendly language.

从本质上讲，团队需要确保金融科技产品 平衡用户负担和安全性 和遵从性. 在我为一家大型跨国银行工作期间，有一个很好的例子说明了这一点的重要性. One of the international branches had an auto-fill process in place for credit card applications that used customers’ social media profiles. 然而，法规的变化意味着不再允许这样做. 而不是, customers had to manually enter all their information in a clunky UI with 12 extra steps—a huge deterrent. 银行的不良资产开始增长, illustrating that the contingent of people willing to commit to the application process were only those who were highly likely to have been refused elsewhere. 产品团队不得不重新考虑整个流程，以大幅减少用户负担.

将变化视为创新的机会

不断发展的法规可能会带来问题，但它们也为创新创造了肥沃的土壤. 突然的变化刺激了这个领域的许多快速发展 fintech景观 近年来，包括支付、贷款和 银行.

与产品所处的经济环境保持一致是至关重要的, 所以你可以预见并利用地区发展. 例如，当印度在2016年经历废钞运动时，它创造了 长期的现金短缺. Payment applications that facilitated cashless transactions were suddenly essential and saw a huge increase in use virtually overnight. 这改变了市场, 吸引新玩家增加竞争并带来更多创新.

监管沙箱—controlled spaces set up by regulators in which you can test your solutions—are a great way to innovate and experiment on a smaller scale. A regulatory sandbox essentially provides a testing environment that eliminates the possibility of mistakes or failures in the real world. Maintain an open line of communication between your company and regulators so you can use sandboxes as they’re created. 这是一个向监管机构展示你的产品能力的机会, 同时也要强调你对用户安全的关注.

Keep in mind that regulators are not trying to discourage innovation or prevent you from disrupting the market with new, 独特的产品. 而, they are mitigating the occurrence of errors that could have a negative impact on consumers’ hard-earned savings.

确保合作伙伴知情并做好准备

这些规则不仅适用于你的公司和产品, 还包括与您合作的供应商和合作伙伴. 您使用的任何合作伙伴都可能需要获得一个或多个监管机构的适当认证. 因此，建立第三方关系可能具有挑战性. 合伙人需要了解你所处的市场和监管环境, 以及愿意接受潜在的审计或强制性报告. 记住要让你公司的合规团队保持在这个循环中, 因为他们将能够建议哪些机构对这些第三方进行监督.

A multinational financing organization I consulted for ran into issues in this area due to a partner’s lack of awareness. It was expanding into the Indian market and already had an exclusivity contract in place with a payment gateway company. 经过五个月的产品开发, the organization was unable to launch the pilot because the payment gateway company had not researched local fintech regulations and was not prepared to be audited by the appropriate bodies.

The lesson here is to always discuss with any potential partners their readiness and ability to operate in a fintech domain, 特别是针对您的产品将发挥作用的地理区域. 在许多情况下，永远不要假设您可以在多个位置使用相同的合作伙伴, 你可能得和当地公司合作.

一个潜力巨大的市场

金融科技是一个复杂但令人兴奋的行业，正在快速增长，这意味着对 金融科技产品经理 将继续增长. 市场上有很多类型的产品可供你选择, 每个都有自己的规定. 不要将它们视为限制，而应将其视为有助于保护用户安全的规则. 作为产品经理，这可能是一个具有挑战性的环境, 而是通过与你的法律团队密切合作, 在UI设计过程中构建遵从性, 仔细审查第三方合作伙伴关系, 将变化视为机遇, 您可以开发有价值的网关来帮助消费者发送, 投资, 保存, ,花.

你有开发这类产品的经验吗? 请在评论区分享你的见解.