The rise of fintech: A cross-country perspective

We investigated the country determinants that encourage the establishment and activity of financial technology (fintech) companies. We found that countries witnessed more fintech start-up formation when access to bank loans was limited, indicating that fintech companies help underserved markets. In this paper, we show that countries’ technological adoption is important, as technological advancements, the quality of research, and the level of university-industry collaboration are positively related to fintech development. Additionally, we confirm that fintech companies may find the quality and stringency of regulations obstacles to their development. Finally, we show that some determinants of fintech development differ between developed and developing countries.