Journal article
Fintech in the time of COVID-19: Technological adoption during crises
Jonathan Fu, Mrinal Mishra
JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION | ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE | Published : 2022
Open access
Abstract
We document the effects of the COVID−19 pandemic on digital finance and fintech adoption. Drawing on mobile application data from a globally representative sample, we find that the spread of COVID− 19 and related government lockdowns led to a sizeable increase in the rate of finance app downloads. We then analyze factors that may have driven this effect on the demand−side and better understand the “winners” from this digital acceleration on the supply−side. Our overall results suggest that traditional incumbents saw the largest growth in their digital offerings during the initial period, but that “BigTech” companies and newer fintech providers ultimately outperformed them over time. Finally,..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. ERC ADG 2016
Funding Acknowledgements
We extend our sincere thanks to Oscar Beccara, Murillo Campello, Annette Krauss, Steven Ongena, Alberto Rossi, an anonymous referee, and participants of the ETH Zurich / University of Zurich's Research Seminar on Contract Theory, Banking, and Money, the 4th Shanghai Edinburgh Fintech Conference, and the Economics of Informality Conference 2020 for helpful comments and suggestions. Mishra gratefully acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. ERC ADG 2016 (No. 740272).