Fintechs: A literature review and research agenda

Abstract

Although the fintech subject has been widely discussed in the press and communications media, there is a lack of consensus on the definition of the term in the scientific literature and the key research topics and trends. Aiming to narrow this gap, the objective of this study is to investigate the concept of fintech, to map the literature and point out new routes and opportunities in the field. For this purpose, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is performed, attempting to describe the areas of fintech activities, propose a categorization for this literature, highlight the main issues dealt with to date in the sample publications, as well as to point out new questions for continuing research in this field. The results show a set of definitions for the term fintech and suggest as a comprehensive understanding of fintech, as innovative companies active in the financial industry making use of the availability of communication, the ubiquity of the internet, and the automated processing of information. Moreover, the literature focuses on financial services and innovations, dealing with issues of financial industry regulation and local legislation or the financial system globally. The innovation of research subcategories (technology adoption/network externalities), blockchain and security appear with great emphasis in this work and represent the current most sensitive aspects also linked to the more global theme of digital transformation. Finally, subjects related to financial services operation particularly deal with risks of financial loss related to different factors involved in the business environment of these organizations.