#Fintok and Financial Regulation

Authors

Nikita Aggarwal
D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye
Christopher K. Odinet, Texas A&M University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

Journal Title

Arizona State Law Journal

ISSN

0164-4297

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.

First Page

1035

Last Page

1071

Num Pages

37

Volume Number

54

Issue Number

4

Publisher

Arizona State University College of Law

Recommended Citation

Nikita Aggarwal, D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye & Christopher K. Odinet, #Fintok and Financial Regulation, 54 Ariz. St. L.J. 1035 (2022).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/2072

File Type

PDF