FIN8290-Emerging Trends in FinTech Assignment 4 Case Study Rules: 1) You will be working with a group. 2) There need only be one (1) submission per group. 3) Do not copy and paste any materials from online sources or straight from textbooks. 4) Any materials that you wish to use that are not your own must be cited and recorded in a bibliography. This includes any Instructor supplied resources.

Abstract: The role of financial technology companies increases every day. From one side this process generates more possibilities for consumers, while from other side it is related with new risks which arise in the banking sector. At the beginning of the FinTech era many analysts were discussing the disruptive potential in financial services. Later, however, we can see more discussions about cooperation between FinTech companies and banks. The purpose of this case study is to analyze the interaction between the banking sector and FinTech companies. This case study will leverage a study of the country of Lithuania and ask you to apply your research to other countries where the FinTech sector is growing rapidly.

Introduction and Overview:

New technologies have touched all aspects of human life, and the finance sector is no exception. In the last decade, financial technology is probably the most commonly used term in the entire financial sector and is one of the fastest growing areas of technology. Investments in FinTech companies amounted to 2 billion US dollars in 2010, while investments in companies of this sector reached 130 billion US dollars in 2020 (Accenture 2015). Following the global financial crisis of 2008, FinTech began to develop very rapidly, improving and changing trade, payments, investments, insurance, settlements and their security, and even the money itself. U.S. economist Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman was the man who in the late 1980s predicted that the Internet would limit the states monetary system in the future and lead to the emergence of digital money that would allow anonymous payments. Friedmans prediction came true, which led to the creation of the well-known virtual moneycryptocurrencies.

FinTech is a very relevant topic not only globally, but also in Canada, where efforts are being made to create all possibilities for the successful development of innovative financial technologies. As FinTech begins to play a key role in our daily lives and economies it is very important to analyze this sector in order to understand the interactions between traditional banking and FinTech.

In this case study the authors focused on Lithuania given there are many opinions the FinTech sector in this country can become a European FinTech hub. U.S. financial expert Noreika (2017) has expressed the opinion that the idea for Lithuania to become a European FinTech hub is quite real. The development of financial technologies in Lithuania has a great support from the Bank of Lithuania, which is our central bank and supervisory institution for financial sector. At the same time established FinTech Association helps foreign investors to come to Lithuania and provides all the necessary information to finance the progress of these technologies. The development of the FinTech sector is one of the governments priorities in Lithuania. These tactics have created fast-growing and accelerating FinTech companies have begun to increase competition in the banking sector.

In parallel, some media has created the image of FinTech as destructive, revolutionary, and armed with digital weapons that will overcome barriers and traditional financial institutions (World Economic Forum 2017). According to PwC (2016), 83% of financial institutions consider that the various aspects of their business are becoming more risky as more

FinTech companies grow. For FinTech companies, which already have a significant impact on the financial industry, each financial company needs to create opportunities to use and invest in financial technologies in order to remain competitive. Many economists have begun to consider whether financial technology will help companies to push banks and other financial institutions out of the financial market, thus promoting a healthy competitive process that increases efficiency in a market with barriers to entry or it will more likely create chaos, disruption and financial instability? FinTech is developing very fast, but the impact of the banking sector on it is still unclear and it is suspected that it may pose a threat to financial institutions (Malciauskait e and Kvietkauskien e 2019), so this aspect of analysis, research and forecasting is very relevant among scientists and economists since they are trying find out whether FinTech companies can operate close to banks and cooperate, or can banks still have a negative effect on FinTech companies and reduce their performance?

Deliverable:

In this case study we are asking you to focus on different aspects of FinTech in any country and see the interaction aspects between banking sector and FinTech companies. The aim of the case study is to find out if there is an interaction between any countrys banking sector and the development of FinTech companies, i.e., how financial technology companies are affected by banks, and whether banks can work together with FinTech companies. Is FinTech a positive disruption as the country of Lithuania states, or is FinTech a destructive force as the media has stated.

It is implied, most countries support the idea that the banking sector must interact actively with FinTech sector in order to improve their services and fulfil the clients needs. By conducting research using literature and online data in addition to your personal insights, you are to provide a report detailing two of the four FinTech hypotheses below as they apply to any country in the world. Choose a country and provide your answers to two of the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis (H1). The growth of traditional bank performance negatively affects the performance of FinTech companies.

Hypothesis (H2). The banking sector and Fintech companies can easily interact in order to increase a countries financial inclusion.

Hypothesis (H3). FinTech companies can help to increase banking sector services and improve banking sector results.

Hypothesis (H4). FinTech companies do not have disruption effect on the banking sector.