Trends and New Developments in FinTech

Dear Colleagues,

A number of fintech trends are already emerging. New payment technologies balancing the three S's (speed, stability, and safety) during turbulent times, the greater integration of financial services into non-finance offering more and new convenient shopping options such as buy-now-and-pay-later (BNPL), and payment schemes, are making inroads into new digital financial investment vehicles.

This Special Issue is concerned with insights on some fintech trends that have not been examined widely to date, such as the aspects of the regulation of digital activities, the implementation of technologies on reducing carbon emissions, ESG investments by fintech, the trend towards asset tokenization and related banking activities in relation to fintech and the development of central bank digital currencies assisted by fintech. More specifically:

• Financial innovation and technology generate financial identity fraud attempts and cybercrime, coupled with a lack of regulation, generates the need to suggest ways for an effective regulation and supervision of this digital asset market.
• The race to limit global warming to below 2°C should be ebhanced by new technologies in order to optimally utilize renewable energy sources via fintech.
• Innovative technologies can foster green investing through green finance and standardization of ESG disclosures. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and blockchain are particularly exciting in the context of green finance.
• Facilitated by transparency, lower transaction costs and improved security, asset tokenization should enhance liquidity and investment opportunities. Fintech platforms are driving this trend.
• The rapid development of new fintech has led many central banks to rethink their traditional role as overseers of the financial system and explore the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Additional topics sought include the impact of fintech on the following:

• P2P lending
• Crowdfunding
• Credit evaluation tools
• Investment activities
• Payments
• Insurance
• Supervisory and oversight issues

Prof. Dr. Nikiforos T. Laopodis
Dr. Eleftheria Kostika
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• decentralised finance
• private digital currencies
• PSP
• ESG and green finance
• innovation in portfolio theory
• central bank digital currencies
• RegTech
• SupTech
• P2P
• MiCA