FinTechs and banks: Competitors and collaborators

Abstract

FinTech, short for financial technology, refers to any financial service offering built using the power of technology. Although it has come to be talked about more frequently in the decade of 2010-20 as can inferred from the Google Search Trends interest over t ime chart below (Figure 1), FinTech as a concept dates back to the early 201 h century with the launch of Fedwire in 1918 followed by the setup of the world's first ATM machine at a branch of Barclays bank in 1967, establishment of NASDAQ in 1971, online banking in 1980s and so on. Clearly Fin Tech has been around for a much longer period than most people think it has. In fact, a 2015 study by Arner, Barberis, Buckly ca lls FinTech a new term for an old sector.