Financial Innovation (FIN) is a Springer OA journal sponsored by Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. It provides a global academic forum for exchanging research findings across all fields in financial innovation in the era of electronic business that spans over several technological waves such as mobile computing, blockchain, and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). It seeks to promote interactions among researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners, and to foster research ideas on financial innovation in the areas of new financial instruments as well as new financial technologies, markets and institutions. FIN emphasizes emerging financial products, processes and services that are enabled by the introduction of disruptive technologies. FIN is peer-reviewed and publishes both high-quality academic (theoretical or empirical) and practical papers in the broad ranges of financial innovation.
We are pleased to announce that Financial Innovation has achieved the latest impact factor of 6.9, placing 9th out of 231 journals in the Business, Finance category, and 3rd out of 67 journals in the Social Science, Mathematical Methods category.
As a result, banking is now more vulnerable to the vicissitudes and volatility of the market, herd-behaviour phenomena, and asset price boom-bust cycles.2 This in turn increases the risk of illiquidity. Paradoxically, an increase in market depth may be accompanied by a significant rise in systemic risk (Rajan, 2006). The Comarch Open Platform is the first real cloud-native, fully flexible digital banking and insurance engagement platform servicing corporate clients through an omnichannel approach. This solution creates an ecosystem using different business-banking micro applications and services that make daily processes more efficient with less friction. The platform uses an API for communication, integration and data use; embeds processes for faster continuous integration and delivery of value; microservices architecture; and includes a fully agile-oriented development process for more efficiency and accuracy to address fast-changing market demands. This solution combines build-and-buy strategies and gives financial institutions a tool they can implement quickly and cost effectively while maintaining autonomy in their development and unique, individual character.
Financial innovation has resulted in many positive changes in the financial services industry. Financial institutions are constantly seeking innovative ways to improve financial intermediation and financial market efficiency to better serve their consumers. Two important drivers of fi nancial innovation are regulation andderegulation, and technological advances. Regulation may forbid or otherwiserestrain fi nancial innovation so that deregulation may spur innovation.
This year, these included, as always, many tech tools in a range of key business areas such as forex, UX, open banking and payments. Whether for doing more with less or offering nonbanking services, new opportunities for the most innovative and savviest financial organizations have opened with artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledger technology and open standards. Across the customer spectrum, from retail to corporate banking, clients can select more intuitive experiences while accessing more actionable information than ever before. Financial innovation has been accused of destabilising the banking industry and the financial markets and of helping operators get around regulatory requirements. Although these accusations are true in some cases (such as the abuse of certain complex structured products), the real underlying problem is not innovation per se but inadequate regulation. Securitization is an innovation that allows investors to transfer risk and diversify, which in turn increases the amount of available credit in an economy.
ICT risks, including cybersecurity risks, undermine confidence and represent a threat to the stability of the financial system. Furthermore, cyber-attacks are a growing concern because of their increasing frequency and potential impact. Following on the ESMA Smart Investing Advice, in September 2020, the European Commission put forward two legislative proposals on CAs, namely a proposal for a regulation for a pilot regime for DLT market infrastructures (pilot regime) and a proposal for a regulation on Markets in CAs (MiCA).
Backed by powerful AI and machine learning solutions, today’s organizations can leverage a wealth of data to assess risks, uncover fraudulent activities, improve customer service, and so on. By implementing AI-centric solutions, organizations can harness the power of predictive analytics and gain valuable insights on everything from market trends to financial risks. AI also plays heavily into the tech advancements identified below, including robo-advisors and peer-to-peer lending platforms. Through financial innovation, emerging entrepreneurs can leverage alternative funding resources and a range of fintech solutions. Meanwhile, analytics-centered opportunities drive powerful forecasting and risk management solutions. These tools help startups anticipate and respond to potential challenges, rather than adopting a riskier and potentially more costly reactive stance.
Often, these innovations are sparked by disruptive technologies, although they may also reflect social movements or emerging public priorities. CPI researches and develops innovative climate finance policies, financial instruments, and business models that create measurable impact and can scale quickly. It has particular expertise in combining blended finance models with early-stage technical assistance to ensure bold ideas move from concept to implementation quickly and with as little risk as possible. NedMonitor simulates the customer experience and performs testing to identify errors and issues, so that the bank can proactively resolve these before they have a significant impact. This innovation evaluates response times and error messages on the bank’s digital channels, which include Nedbank Online, Nedbank Mobile and MyUey, as well as third-party services like M-Pesa, e-Mola and mKesh – sending alerts to the bank’s IT teams so they can take action.
Loan processing times have been reduced by up to 80%, and customer satisfaction has increased. It’s also boosted back-office productivity and allowed bank branch staff to focus more on customer relationship-building and sales. Looking ahead, the bank anticipates more-complex RPA uses, including loan underwriting, account opening and customer onboarding. With regard to market reform, the desirability of the restrictions on short selling or naked shorting imposed in certain countries is questionable given that the root problem is market manipulation. How innovation is used is determined by the incentives of the economic agents, who are in turn influenced by the regulatory framework. For example, some analysts are now exploring the degree to which pressure to generate value for shareholders and possible flaws in corporate governance mechanisms contributed to the crisis.
In this asset class, instead of owning part of the company, individuals become creditors and receive regular interest payments until the loan is eventually paid back in full. Also, P2P lending marketplaces enable both people and companies to buy whole or fractional loans. Interoperable protocols make it easy to integrate a variety of applications, while decentralized exchanges allow for peer-to-peer lending emphasizing digital assets. Overall, the shift toward decentralized finance has disrupted traditional systems while democratizing the finance sector. Traditional financial products include stocks and bonds, but how these are acquired and utilized has evolved over time. These days, a wider variety of financial products are available, ranging from Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) mutual funds to microinsurance and even cryptocurrencies.
Financial innovation has come through advances in technology, financial instruments, and payment systems. The financial services business has been transformed by digital technology, which has changed how we save, borrow, invest, and pay for goods. The financial solutions we take for granted today were largely shaped by a spirit of innovation. For example, online banking has dramatically improved access to critical services, so consumers can now easily pay their bills, check their balances, and otherwise enjoy maximum convenience. In modern finance, innovations encourage consumers to take more control over their financial situation while also democratizing access and continuing to enhance convenience. Although often implemented by industry disruptors, these solutions are often eventually adopted by major financial institutions and quickly made available to the general public.
The new regulation will allow platforms to apply for an EU passport based on a single set of rules. In the United States, Regulation Q drove several types of financial innovation to get around its interest rate ceilings, including eurodollars and NOW accounts. Duffie and Rahi also devote a considerable section to examining the utility and efficiency implications of financial innovation. This is also the topic of many of the papers in the special edition of the Journal of Economic Theory in which theirs is the lead article. The usefulness of spanning the market appears to be limited (or, equivalently, the disutility of incomplete markets is not great).
The $11.7 million bond is equipped with a call option and loss-absorption mechanism that helps mitigate solvency risks – an unprecedented move in Colombia. Bancolombia recognized the need for more advanced and flexible financial products for consumer finance companies operating in the Colombian market. The bank also played a vital role in educating and advising prospective investors and market intermediaries on the transaction. This chain thrived on the incredibly low interest rates that financed the real estate bubble. Meanwhile, monetary policy only concerned itself with inflation, ignoring the bubbles in asset prices and the balance-sheet situation of financial institutions. The GFIN is a network of over 70 organisations committed to supporting financial innovation in the interests of consumers.
This one integration exercise provides out-of-the-box support for multiple schemes and regulations, simplifying operations across regions and new markets. The APIs can operate in an organization’s data center or private cloud, or as a service in Volante’s cloud. This service helps organizations improve end-to-end processing performance and reduce costs by at least 60% as compared to traditional ISO modernization approaches. Visa launched B2B Connect in 2021 after a fundamental shift in corporate behavior created pressure for more-effective payment solutions. This innovation is transparent, affordable and inclusive, the first global multilateral payment network that meets and even surpasses the G20 cross-payments board recommendations.
CTBC Bank in Taiwan has stablished the first integrated AI platform for fraud risk management in the country’s financial sector. The project, to address the growing threat of digital fraud attacks and enhance the bank’s fraud management capabilities, spanned two years. It is particularly cryptocurrency strategies significant, given that digital transactions now account for over 50% of the market share in Taiwan and the country has the highest fraud rate in the Asia-Pacific region. The platform enables real-time fraud risk assessments that provide results in just 30 milliseconds.