IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v30y2022i6p1911-1920.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A critical look at using financial technology policy to promote the sustainable development goals

Author

Listed:
  • Bryane Michael
  • Nataliya Koroleska
  • Andy Tai
  • David Wai Ho Wong

Abstract

New financial technologies (FinTech) may not represent a new era for sustainable development—at least not as currently conceived. Many of the gains espoused by the UN and other cheerleaders come from rebranding the online equivalents of traditional savings, investment and tax payment activities. Most of these claims have no supporting evidence, beyond ad hoc anecdotes and stories. The existing evidence hardly forms a reliable basis for the very specific technologies and services recommended by international organizations. We show that abstract and nebulous advice on changing countries' payments, banking, securities, and others' laws helps explain why such advice will likely have little effect on promoting financial inclusion, saving, mobile payments, and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryane Michael & Nataliya Koroleska & Andy Tai & David Wai Ho Wong, 2022. "A critical look at using financial technology policy to promote the sustainable development goals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1911-1920, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:30:y:2022:i:6:p:1911-1920
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.2358
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2358
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.2358?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thakor, Anjan, 2020. "Corrigendum to: Fintech and Banking: What Do We Know?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    2. Ratna Sahay & Martin Cihak & Papa M N'Diaye & Adolfo Barajas & Srobona Mitra & Annette J Kyobe & Yen N Mooi & Seyed Reza Yousefi, 2015. "Financial Inclusion; Can it Meet Multiple Macroeconomic Goals?," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 15/17, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Stijn Claessens & Jon Frost & Grant Turner & Feng Zhu, 2018. "Fintech credit markets around the world: size, drivers and policy issues," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, September.
    4. Langzi Chen & Zhihong Chen & Jian Li, 2019. "Can Trade Credit Maintain Sustainable R&D Investment of SMEs?—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Joshua Yindenaba Abor & Mohammed Amidu & Haruna Issahaku, 2018. "Mobile Telephony, Financial Inclusion and Inclusive Growth," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 430-453, July.
    6. Jagtiani, Julapa & Lemieux, Catharine, 2018. "Do fintech lenders penetrate areas that are underserved by traditional banks?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 43-54.
    7. Ahmet Faruk Aysan & Fouad Bergigui & Mustafa Disli, 2021. "Using Blockchain-Enabled Solutions as SDG Accelerators in the International Development Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-24, April.
    8. Ms. Ratna Sahay & Mr. Martin Cihak & Mr. Papa M N'Diaye & Mr. Adolfo Barajas & Ms. Srobona Mitra & Ms. Annette J Kyobe & Yen N Mooi & Mr. Seyed Reza Yousefi, 2015. "Financial Inclusion: Can it Meet Multiple Macroeconomic Goals?," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2015/017, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Thakor, Anjan V., 2020. "Fintech and banking: What do we know?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    10. Song Jiang & Shuang Qiu & Hong Zhou & Meilan Chen, 2019. "Can FinTech Development Curb Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    11. Li Huang & Qianwei Ying & Shanye Yang & Hazrat Hassan, 2019. "Trade Credit Financing and Sustainable Growth of Firms: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Giulio Cornelli & Jon Frost & Leonardo Gambacorta & Raghavendra Rau & Robert Wardrop & Tania Ziegler, 2020. "Fintech and big tech credit: a new database," BIS Working Papers 887, Bank for International Settlements.
    13. Yiwen Zeng & Sean Maxwell & Rebecca K. Runting & Oscar Venter & James E. M. Watson & L. Roman Carrasco, 2020. "Environmental destruction not avoided with the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(10), pages 795-798, October.
    14. Xiang Deng & Zhi Huang & Xiang Cheng, 2019. "FinTech and Sustainable Development: Evidence from China Based on P2P Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-19, November.
    15. Milford Bateman & Maren Duvendack & Nicholas Loubere, 2019. "Is fin-tech the new panacea for poverty alleviation and local development? Contesting Suri and Jack’s M-Pesa findings published in Science," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(161), pages 480-495, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kowalewski, Oskar & Pisany, Paweł, 2022. "Banks' consumer lending reaction to fintech and bigtech credit emergence in the context of soft versus hard credit information processing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Pacelli, Vincenzo & Miglietta, Federica & Foglia, Matteo, 2022. "The extreme risk connectedness of the new financial system: European evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Jon Frost, 2020. "The economic forces driving FinTech adoption across countries," Working Papers 663, DNB.
    4. Nisha Mary Thomas, 2023. "Modeling key enablers influencing FinTechs offering SME credit services: A multi-stakeholder perspective," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-27, December.
    5. Fu, Jonathan & Mishra, Mrinal, 2022. "Fintech in the time of COVID−19: Technological adoption during crises," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    6. Angela Tritto & Yujia He & Victoria Amanda Junaedi, 2020. "Governing the gold rush into emerging markets: a case study of Indonesia’s regulatory responses to the expansion of Chinese-backed online P2P lending," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, December.
    7. Yiping Huang & Xiang Li & Han Qiu & Changhua Yu, 2023. "Big tech credit and monetary policy transmission: micro-level evidence from China," BIS Working Papers 1084, Bank for International Settlements.
    8. Fred Huibers, 2021. "Regulatory Response to the Rise of Fintech Credit in The Netherlands," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-12, August.
    9. Xuan T. T. Pham & Thu B. Luu, 2024. "Effect of FinCredit on income inequality: the moderating role of financial inclusion," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 953-969, April.
    10. Huang, Yiping & Li, Xiang & Qiu, Han & Su, Dan & Yu, Changhua, 2024. "Bigtech credit, small business, and monetary policy transmission: Theory and evidence," IWH Discussion Papers 18/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2024.
    11. Ping-Lun Tseng & Wen-Chung Guo, 2022. "Fintech, Credit Market Competition, and Bank Asset Quality," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 285-318, June.
    12. Chen, Wen & Wu, Weili & Zhang, Tonghui, 2023. "Fintech development, firm digitalization, and bank loan pricing," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    13. Karim, Sitara & Lucey, Brian M., 2024. "BigTech, FinTech, and banks: A tangle or unity?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    14. Tianlei Pi & Haoxuan Hu & Jingyi Lu & Xue Chen, 2022. "The Analysis of Fintech Risks in China: Based on Fuzzy Models," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, April.
    15. Wang, Xiaoting & Hou, Siyuan & Kyaw, Khine & Xue, Xupeng & Liu, Xueqin, 2023. "Exploring the determinants of Fintech Credit: A comprehensive analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    16. Hodula, Martin, 2022. "Does Fintech credit substitute for traditional credit? Evidence from 78 countries," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    17. Hasan, Iftekhar & Kwak, Boreum & Li, Xiang, 2024. "Financial technologies and the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    18. Kakhkharov, Jakhongir & Bianchi, Robert J., 2022. "COVID-19 and policy responses: Early evidence in banks and FinTech stocks," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Dömötör, Barbara & Ölvedi, Tímea, 2021. "A személyközi hitelezés létjogosultsága a pénzügyi közvetítésben [The relevance of peer-to-peer lending in financial intermediation]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 773-793.
    20. Koranteng, Barbara & You, Kefei, 2024. "Fintech and financial stability: Evidence from spatial analysis for 25 countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:30:y:2022:i:6:p:1911-1920. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.