Financial technology in the Finnish banking sector and its impact on stakeholders in the wake of COVID-19

Abstract

Financial Technology (FinTech, hereafter) has integrated with the banking sector. Despite its fast growth, FinTech is a relatively new and under-explored phenomenon in the academic and corporate spheres. The current study aims to explore, first, the role and relevance of FinTech in the commercial banking sector in Finland; and second, the changing dynamics of stakeholders of the banking industry in the light of FinTech. The above objectives have been studied in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary data has been collected through semi-structured interviews. A significant impact of FinTech has been observed in the following aspects of the banking sector: customers, strategy, risk management, investors, operations, competitiveness, and future growth. FinTech adoption has been contributed by the growth in the IT sector and innovations in the field of firm financing including crowdsourcing and peer-to-peer financing. Changing customers’ demands and behaviour have also facilitated FinTech adoption (Lee & Teo, 2015). Banks have been integrating FinTech into insurance services and this feature has become more profound ever since banks increased their cooperation with international insurance companies (Paschen, Wilson, & Ferreira, 2020). Similarly, there has been a significant increase in collaboration between banks and FinTech start-ups. Nonetheless, the unpredictable factors, such as the ongoing COVID-19, can influence the future innovation and adoption of FinTech.