Financial Technology in Banking Business: Realities and Prospects

Abstract

The article aims at studying the place of and prospects for financial technology development in the banking business during the digitalization process in the economy by using both the theoretical and empirical research methods. Having analyzed research works on the topic, the authors systematize the key trends in banking innovations in Ukraine and prove the relevance of financial technology in the banking business during the current digitalization. As a result, the current place of financial technology in the banking business is determined by identifying modern customers’ needs and current market conditions in the field of money services (the growing number of Internet users, gadgets, and hence the growth of the cashless money transfer turnover), and the following prospects are suggested: customer value and the quality of service provisioning (i.e., quickness, flexibility of the business structure and extensive use of various technologies). The results are based on the synthesis and analysis of the achievements of financial technology companies in the Ukrainian and world markets, their cooperation with banks, as well as their actions in the global pandemic, the latter reducing the financial inflow, but at the same time encouraging innovations. Research prospects in this context lie in suggesting the key trends of the future, such as including financial services in non-financial relations, the Internet of Things (seamless payments, where the focus shifts from payment to the service itself, providing long-term interaction between the seller and the buyer); the nature and consequences of changing the format of payment services in the domestic market (PSD2). Still, much will depend on further results of the work of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the actions of the regulator, i.e. the National Bank of Ukraine, concerning the digital development of the financial sector