Ryan Christiansen is the Senior Director of the University of Utah Fintech Center, overseeing research labs, a venture fund, a startup incubator, and experiential student programs that accelerate fintech innovation and workforce development.

 
Before academia, Ryan served as Senior Vice President of Data Access Partnerships at Mastercard following the company’s $985 million acquisition of Finicity. As a member of Finicity’s senior leadership team, he helped transform the startup into a market-leading data-access platform and continued to guide global open-banking strategy at Mastercard—negotiating landmark agreements with major financial institutions and advancing tokenized, consumer-permissioned data exchange.

 
Ryan is a founding architect of the Financial Data Exchange (FDX), where he co-chairs the Certification Working Group and helps define the international standards that underpin open-banking services adopted by more than 100 million consumers. He also co-chairs the Utah Governor’s Fintech Council, advising state leaders on policy that fosters responsible innovation.

 
Prior to joining Finicity, Ryan spent 20+ years as senior executive at national banks, giving him a unique perspective that bridges traditional finance, fintech disruption, and public policy.