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Beyond Banks: Technology, Regulation, and the Future of Money
How new technology is rapidly changing the nature of money and the way we pay
A diverse and growing range of financial institutions and platforms—from PayPal and Venmo to WeChat, Alipay, and the brave new world of stablecoins—has harnessed new technology to disrupt the system of money and payments as we know it. Beyond Banks explains why this disruption holds out the promise of faster, cheaper, more convenient, and more secure payments, but also how it increasingly risks exposing consumers, businesses, and governments to the problem of bad money.
Dan Awrey traces the origins of our current bundled system of banking, money, and payments. He explains why the problem of bad money—the result of antiquated and inadequate laws and regulation that fail to establish credible commitments to hold, transfer, or return a customer’s money on demand—requires that policymakers fundamentally rethink their approach toward the design of the laws and institutions at the heart of this system. He presents ways to effectively unbundle banking from money and payments, ensure the credibility of monetary commitments, and promote the stability of this system. Awrey also envisions a more forward-looking role for policymakers in encouraging greater technological experimentation, competition, and innovation in the realm of payments.
Beyond Banks sheds critical light on the important but too often dysfunctional relationship among technology, regulation, and money, and lays the foundations for a safer, more nimble, and more inclusive system of money and payments.
A diverse and growing range of financial institutions and platforms—from PayPal and Venmo to WeChat, Alipay, and the brave new world of stablecoins—has harnessed new technology to disrupt the system of money and payments as we know it. Beyond Banks explains why this disruption holds out the promise of faster, cheaper, more convenient, and more secure payments, but also how it increasingly risks exposing consumers, businesses, and governments to the problem of bad money.
Dan Awrey traces the origins of our current bundled system of banking, money, and payments. He explains why the problem of bad money—the result of antiquated and inadequate laws and regulation that fail to establish credible commitments to hold, transfer, or return a customer’s money on demand—requires that policymakers fundamentally rethink their approach toward the design of the laws and institutions at the heart of this system. He presents ways to effectively unbundle banking from money and payments, ensure the credibility of monetary commitments, and promote the stability of this system. Awrey also envisions a more forward-looking role for policymakers in encouraging greater technological experimentation, competition, and innovation in the realm of payments.
Beyond Banks sheds critical light on the important but too often dysfunctional relationship among technology, regulation, and money, and lays the foundations for a safer, more nimble, and more inclusive system of money and payments.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 22, 2024
28 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 26, 2025
Possibly the most interesting book about bankruptcy law, microprudential regulation and European history that it’s possible to write!
August 7, 2025
Good, but very niche topic. The book explores the history of money and banking regulations with a focus on the US and then looks to see how current regulation (or lack thereof) looks when applied to new payment systems and crypto. Also investigates barriers to entry for new players. While I personally enjoyed the book (although much of it was knowledge I had previously), I'm not sure how much the general population would value or benefit from the topics covered.
November 16, 2024
What’s in your wallet? Credit cards, debit cards, gift cards? What kind of money is in them? Those are not the kinds of things we normally think about. Or maybe your wallet is digital. Or you have Crypto currency. Or you have services for sending and receiving money. What are these things? How have they changed the definition of money and what are the economic implications for the existence of such services in a world that still assumes the traditional definition of money.
This book aims to examine the conflict between the present, past, and future of money. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of both systems and aims to provide insights into how these systems might evolve in the future and what the implications are economically and legally.
For the author, the traditional view of the form of money must give way completely to the functional view. This functional perspective has significant implications for understanding the rise of non-bank financial institutions in the modern monetary system.
He offers a thought-provoking analysis of the evolving monetary system and urges a proactive reassessment of traditional banking frameworks and the regulation of emerging financial technologies.Why? He invokes Gresham’s Law to argue that the technological advances that deliver faster, cheaper, and safer payments often far outpace the changes to our laws and institutions that deliver sound money.
Like the design of money itself, the predictions of Gresham’s new law have profound implications for individuals, for the economy, and for the fabric of our institutions and society. On an individual level, the expansion of the shadow monetary system as bad money drives out good increases the risk of financial ruin for households and businesses as the IOUs they thought were sound money turn into empty promises during periods of institutional and broader systemic instability. On a macroeconomic level, while it is perhaps difficult to imagine today, the shadow monetary system may one day grow to rival the conventional banking system in size and systemic importance. If this eventually happens, it would raise the troubling prospect that the correlated and uncoordinated bankruptcy of the institutions and platforms at the heart of this system could precipitate a severe contraction in the money supply, leading to damaging deflation, a reduction in investment and commercial activity, and undermining economic growth.
In a sense, then, this book is an attempt to apply Gresham’s old law to our credit-based, digital, and networked age, to suggest changes before sectors of the financial industry that are so far unregulated create havoc for the entire industry.
The first part of the book traces the changes of the concept of money through history and the second part introduces us to the new world of money and the risks foreshadowed. It concludes with solid suggestions for fixing a looming problem. I say ‘solid’ not in the sense that they are logically airtight (since I do not have the expertise to judge this), but in the sense that they are not full of airy generalities.
It’s a well-written, well-paced book. Highly recommended.
This book aims to examine the conflict between the present, past, and future of money. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of both systems and aims to provide insights into how these systems might evolve in the future and what the implications are economically and legally.
For the author, the traditional view of the form of money must give way completely to the functional view. This functional perspective has significant implications for understanding the rise of non-bank financial institutions in the modern monetary system.
He offers a thought-provoking analysis of the evolving monetary system and urges a proactive reassessment of traditional banking frameworks and the regulation of emerging financial technologies.Why? He invokes Gresham’s Law to argue that the technological advances that deliver faster, cheaper, and safer payments often far outpace the changes to our laws and institutions that deliver sound money.
Like the design of money itself, the predictions of Gresham’s new law have profound implications for individuals, for the economy, and for the fabric of our institutions and society. On an individual level, the expansion of the shadow monetary system as bad money drives out good increases the risk of financial ruin for households and businesses as the IOUs they thought were sound money turn into empty promises during periods of institutional and broader systemic instability. On a macroeconomic level, while it is perhaps difficult to imagine today, the shadow monetary system may one day grow to rival the conventional banking system in size and systemic importance. If this eventually happens, it would raise the troubling prospect that the correlated and uncoordinated bankruptcy of the institutions and platforms at the heart of this system could precipitate a severe contraction in the money supply, leading to damaging deflation, a reduction in investment and commercial activity, and undermining economic growth.
In a sense, then, this book is an attempt to apply Gresham’s old law to our credit-based, digital, and networked age, to suggest changes before sectors of the financial industry that are so far unregulated create havoc for the entire industry.
The first part of the book traces the changes of the concept of money through history and the second part introduces us to the new world of money and the risks foreshadowed. It concludes with solid suggestions for fixing a looming problem. I say ‘solid’ not in the sense that they are logically airtight (since I do not have the expertise to judge this), but in the sense that they are not full of airy generalities.
It’s a well-written, well-paced book. Highly recommended.
March 4, 2025
Both a brief history of the evolution of money and call for a change in which it is regulated and thought about, Dan Awrey's "Beyond Banks" is a thought-provoking work. For investors, it succinctly summarises some of oft-misunderstood competitive advantages that financial institutions enjoy, principally those conferred by the regulators. Awrey also mentions a spate of upstarts trying to unseat those incumbents, with quick analysis on the competitive threats. There is one excellent chapter in which he unravels the regulatory mess that allows certain emoney providers like PayPal to have basis point capital requirements and notes the danger to which this exposes their customers. Worth reading before you decide where you park your savings, if nothing else.
April 23, 2025
Honestly not sure entirely what I thought this book was going to be about but the title may have been slightly misleading. It was half history lesson and half a position paper in book format.
Interesting, but long.
Interesting, but long.
February 10, 2025
A good read on many fintech related topics
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews