The founder of a financial technology firm providing services to banks and credit unions is the new – and first – chief innovation officer (CINO) for the federal insurer of bank deposits, ending a more than two-year search by the agency to fill the position, the agency said Tuesday.
In a release, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said Sultan Meghji has been named to the new position, which was first announced by the agency in October 2018. In naming Meghji to the role, the agency said he would lead the agency’s drive to promote adoption of “innovative technologies across the financial services sector.”
According to the agency, Meghji was a co-founder of Neocova, a St. Louis-based firm that focuses on cloud and artificial intelligence-based software for community banks and credit unions, according to FDIC.
A bio of Meghji on the firm’s website states that, before joining that firm, he was building tech solutions in finance and biotech in Africa (specifically, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda) and other emerging markets. In that effort, also according to the bio, Meghji worked with fintech firms and central banks to create peer-to-peer banking solutions to support underserved areas, “a project that eventually resulted in greater access to banking services across Africa and central Asia.”
“As a recognized expert in financial technology, Sultan brings years of technical knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit to our FDiTech team,” said FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams, referring to the agency’s group focused on developing and using innovation and technology for the banking industry. “Under his leadership, I am confident we will find innovative ways to utilize technology to modernize our bank supervision, enable community banks to adopt technological solutions, and bring more underserved people into the financial fabric of our nation.”