2010–2016

Fintech Adoption and Platformization

Contemporary themes

Adoption of fintech technologies was explained through technology acceptance frameworks across mobile and internet channels, with trust and perceived risk shaping attitudes in youth and diverse markets. The research highlighted regional variation in readiness, infrastructure, and institutions, and drew on cross-country comparisons and empirical analyses to map diffusion patterns. Methodologically, studies used survey data, cross-national datasets, and case-based analyses to unify explanations of adoption across contexts and to examine the role of regulation and market structure.

• Technology acceptance frameworks (Technology Acceptance Model, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, Task-Technology Fit, ITM) unify explanations of fintech adoption across mobile and internet banking contexts, including youth, emerging markets, and cross-country studies.[4][5][9][10][13][14]
• Trust and perceived risk emerge as core antecedents or barriers to internet/mobile banking adoption, shaping attitudes and intentions across China, Yemen, Nigeria and other markets.[1][3][4][7]
• Global fintech ecosystem dynamics and determinants—capital markets, mobile penetration, regulation, competition/cooperation—drive fintech emergence and strategic adoption patterns.[12][17][19][20]
• Regional and market-level variation in online/mobile banking adoption reflects differences in market readiness, demographics, infrastructure, and institutional factors across Brazil, Morocco, Vietnam, and Nigeria.[2][9][10][16]

Influential works

The period catalyzed a post-crisis fintech paradigm that foregrounded platformization, data-driven finance, and evolving regulatory architectures. Breakthroughs included work on scalable payment mechanisms and looming layer-2 solutions, as well as blockchain's application in banking, which redirected policy and strategic planning. Foundational studies on mobile and online banking adoption—especially youth-centric and broad user bases—established core drivers like usefulness, ease of use, trust, and governmental support, shaping subsequent fintech research and product design.

• The Evolution of Fintech: A New Post-Crisis Paradigm? (2015)[2] offers a cohesive post-crisis fintech framework, tracing three eras, and highlighting regulatory shifts, platformization, and data-driven finance; this macro lens shaped subsequent fintech ecosystem research and policy discussions.
• A Fast and Scalable Payment Network with Bitcoin Duplex Micropayment Channels (2015)[7] proposes off-chain micropayment channels to achieve scalable, rapid Bitcoin transactions, foreshadowing layer-2 solutions and catalyzing research on scalable crypto payments and fintech payments infrastructure.
• Blockchain application and outlook in the banking industry (2016)[3] surveys blockchain's potential in banking, analyzing settlement, transparency, and risk management; it helped drive strategic adoption and regulatory interest in distributed ledgers.
• Mobile banking adoption of the youth market (2012)[9] integrates technology acceptance with perceived benefits/risks to explain youth adoption, shaping fintech product design and marketing strategies for mobile banking.
• Online banking adoption: an empirical analysis (2010)[13] empirically identifies usefulness, ease of use, trust, and government support as adoption drivers, laying a foundational model for later fintech adoption research.

2017–2023

Fintech Ecosystem Coevolution

Contemporary themes

Fintech research from 2017 to 2023 reveals a co-evolving ecosystem where banks, startups, and technology providers reconfigure value chains and co-create platform-enabled business models, blending disruption with collaboration across sectors. Regulatory dynamics show tension between rapid innovation and governance, with regtech adoption and data-security considerations shaping trust and market resilience. End-user adoption and inclusion outcomes depend on perceived benefits, privacy and security, and inclusion metrics, guided by behavioral models and acceptance studies. Economic development, venture funding, and technology infrastructure emerge as primary drivers of fintech emergence and innovation value, while taxonomy and conceptualization work clarifies field boundaries and guides future inquiry.

• Fintech reshapes financial services by reconfiguring value chains and enabling new business models and ecosystems that blend disruption with collaboration across banks, startups, and tech providers. Evidence:[5][6][3][17][11].
• Regulatory dynamics in fintech reveal tension between innovation, regulatory arbitrage, and leverage of regtech, with governance structures and data-security concerns shaping trust and market resilience. Evidence:[4][12][18].
• End-user adoption and trust in fintech depend on perceived benefits, privacy and security, and inclusion outcomes, with behavioral models, acceptance studies, and inclusion metrics guiding uptake. Evidence:[7][14][15][8][16].
• Research identifies economic development, venture funding, and technology infrastructure as key drivers of fintech emergence and innovation value, coupling ecosystem perspectives with technology adoption insights. Evidence:[1][9][3][7].
• Efforts to define fintech and classify its offerings reveal how scholars frame the field and structure future inquiry, with taxonomy and conceptualization guiding research agendas. Evidence:[13][20][7].

Influential works

Foundational studies reframed fintech as a co-evolving ecosystem of incumbents, startups, and policy, highlighting regulatory arbitrage, governance challenges, and the transformative potential of blockchain-enabled services. Analyses using patent data and field surveys quantified fintech innovation and identified high-impact technologies such as blockchain, the Internet of Things, and robo-advisory, shaping research agendas at the intersection of finance, information systems, and technology adoption. The period also solidified a view of fintech as a multidisciplinary, platform-orchestrated phenomenon with implications for policy, risk management, and consumer value.

• 'On the Fintech Revolution: Interpreting the Forces of Innovation, Disruption, and Transformation in Financial Services' (2018)[3] reframed fintech as a co-evolving ecosystem of startups, incumbents, and policy, shaping research on business models, platforms, and customer value.
• 'Fintech, regulatory arbitrage, and the rise of shadow banks' (2018)[5] analyzed how fintech firms exploit regulatory gaps to compete with banks, influencing policy discussions and research on financial stability, regulation, and shadow banking.
• 'Blockchain Technology in Finance' (2017)[13] surveyed blockchain's role across payments, clearing and settlements, catalyzing widespread fintech research into distributed ledgers, tokenization, and crypto-enabled services.
• 'How Valuable Is FinTech Innovation?' (2019)[10] uses patent data to quantify FinTech innovation value, highlighting blockchain, IoT, and robo-advising as high-impact technologies guiding both industry strategy and academic inquiry.
• 'Digital Finance and FinTech: current research and future research directions' (2017)[7] surveys the field and maps future directions, catalyzing interdisciplinary work across finance, information systems, and technology adoption.