Yesterday, while visiting Boston, we had the opportunity to tour the Bank of America-sponsored Center for Future Banking, a part of the famed MIT Media Lab.

We talked to researchers looking at:

• consumer behavior in budgeting and managing their finances
• mobile ecommerce tagging
• artificial intelligence at the point of purchase

It’s always energizing to be on campus and see what the bright minds are up to. It’s a great reminder that creative thinking, new ideas, and new technology always propel us forward.

The BofA folks were doing a great job maintaining a positive attitude, but it was also obvious that the events of the past six months have taken a toll. Hopefully, that’s temporary. 

A couple interesting conversation points:

• The Center is absolutely open source, dedicated to helping move the industry forward, not just BofA; they hope more banks and industry players will at some point join their research efforts.
• There may be more startups and more innovations due to the economic downturn as otherwise unemployed individuals start new companies. 
• There’s more need than ever to rethink traditional models.
• This could be the absolute best time to start a financial services company.  

Thanks to Abhishek Mehta, who splits his time between Bank of America in Charlotte and the MIT Media Laboratory, for spearheading the visit. Thanks also to Jeff Carter, Srini Nallasivan, and David Price from Bank of America for the inspiring conversation. And a special thanks to the grad students and staff at the lab for allowing us to interrupt their work and learn about their projects: Kwan Hong Lee, Katherine Krumme, Nathan Greenslit, and Sajid Sadi.