Corresponding Manager: Daniele Previtali (daniele.previtali@uniparthenope.it)
Track Manager(s): Daniele Previtali, Meryem Duygun, Belinda Laura Del Gaudio, Francesco Cappa
Description
The transformation of the financial industry reveals the dual nature of digital technologies: they enhance efficiency, innovation, and inclusion but also create new risks. FinTech, AI, and digital platforms are reshaping intermediation, disrupting traditional regulated models. FinTech introduces a low-cost paradigm (Thakor, 2020) and drives data-based ecosystems (Boot et al., 2021). Innovation spans lending, investment, payments, and insurance through mobile payments peer-to-peer lending, robo-advisory, insurtech, and DeFi (Fasano et al., 2022), lowering costs and broadening access but forcing incumbents to rethink strategies and value creation. Banks react with investments and partnerships (Hornuf et al., 2021; Bellardini et al., 2022; Collevecchio et al., 2024), shaped by governance and market conditions. Yet digital transformation depends on culture as much as technology: openness and experimentation foster adaptability (Thakor, 2023). AI accelerates this evolution, improving analytics and personalization but adding opacity, bias, and concentration risks. Digitalization also has social costs, such as branch closures and exclusion of less connected or rural communities (Jackowicz et al., 2021; Langford et al., 2024). This track analyzes how digitalization, FinTech, and AI transform financial intermediation and how innovation and regulation can be balanced for sustainable and inclusive finance.
Keywords
Fintech, financial intermediation, inclusive finance
Key References
Bellardini, L., Del Gaudio, B.L., Previtali, D., & Verdoliva, V. (2022). How do banks invest in fintechs? Evidence from advanced economies. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money, 77, 101498.
Boot, A., Hoffmann, P., Laeven, L., & Ratnovski, L. (2021). Fintech: what’s old, what’s new? Journal of Financial Stability, 53, 100836.
Collevecchio, F., Cappa F., Peruffo, E.; & Oriani, R. (2024). When do M&As with Fintech Firms benefit traditional banks? British Journal of Management, 35, 192-209.
Fasano, F., & Cappa, F. (2022). How do banking fintech services affect SME debt? Journal of Economics and Business, 121, 106070.
Hornuf, L., Klus, M.F., Lohwasser, T.S., & Schwienbacher, A. (2021). How do banks interact with fintech startups? Small Business Economics, 54, 283–307.
Jackowicz, K., Kozłowski, L., Wnuczak, P. (2021). Which local markets do banks desert first? evidence from Poland. Finance Research Letters, 38, 101478
Langford, W.S., Thomas, H.W., Feldman, M.P. (2024). Banking for the Other Half: The Factors That Explain Banking Desert Formation. Economic Development Quarterly, 38(2), pp. 71–81.
Thakor, A. (2020). FinTech and banking: What do we know? Journal of Financial Intermediation, 41, 100833.
Thakor, A.V. (2023). Purpose, culture, and strategy in banking. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 35, 60-66.
Research Partnerships and Promotion Channels
• Napoli Fintech Lab – Financial Innovation Lab; University of Napoli ‘Parthenope’
• Infinity – Inclusive Finacial Technology Hub; University of Nottingham
• Linkedn