Background
Fintech, or financial technology, is changing the financial services industry through the offering of new products and the way that financial transactions are carried out. As pointed out by Bambrough (2018), the proliferation of fintech companies started after banks retrenched from some markets in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), leaving a gap that fintech firms sought to full.
The reaction of banks to the rise of fintechs has been diverse, with some engaging in partnerships with new start-ups and, others, in the creation of financial technology of their own (Business Insider Intelligence 2018). The success of these ventures has been driven by consumers’ adoption of financial technologies across the globe as suggested in a survey by Ernest Young (EY Global 2017).
Despite all the potential benefits associated with disruptive innovations in financial services (World Economic Forum 2017), concerns have been raised as access to credit has proliferated through companies that are not as regulated and supervised as traditional financial institutions (i.e., ADIs), not to mention that consumers might not have the required financial literacy to understand newly available products. Indeed, there has been a movement in some countries to restrain the industry in order to avoid an outcome as perverse as the GFC of ten years ago, particularly so for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) (Tyndall 2018).
Format
In light of the above, write a report addressing the following:
a)Provide a review of changes brought about by fintech in both your company and the country where it operates.
b)Explain how changes identified in a) altered the way that the business you are related with conducts its operations (e.g., vis a vis dealing with ADIs for borrowing funds).
c)From a business perspective, which are the main risks embedded in the financial technology revolution and its adoption by firms/consumers?
d)Which are the risks posed by fintech to the stability of the financial system? Elaborate on measures that regulators could resort to in order to mitigate them.
References
Bambrough, B 2018,
Global fintech warning to traditional banks – the threat is ‘real and growing’
Business Insider Intelligence 2018,
Here’s how fintech is taking over the world – and what’s coming next
EY Global 2017,
Four themes driving FinTech adoption by consumers
Tyndall, Leo 2018,
Small businesses need urgent protection from fintech ‘Wild West’
World Economic Forum 2017,
Beyond fintech: a pragmatic assessment of disruptive potential in financial services