A more comprehensive definition of fintechs, more in line with the perception of their founders.

What is it about?

This study breaks new ground by directly interviewing ten French fintech actors and fintech competitors. It défines fintechs as: “technology-based start-ups, originating from an entrepreneurial project independent of banking or insurance institutions, which develop a BtoB, BtoC or CtoC business model and usage innovations centered on the end customer and are likely to improve the efficiency of traditional financial intermediaries or to disrupt them”

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Why is it important?

Our research highlights the differences in perception between researchers and professionals. The predominance of the technological dimension seems to have distracted researchers from other aspects that are at least as important to practitioners. The definition we arrive gives greater importance than previously to the entrepreneurial dimension of these startups and to their orientation, which is much more focused on the needs of customers than on the strategies of their competitors, particularly in terms of intentional disruption. Our definition is more restrictive than many others that do not distinguish between fintechs incorporated by incumbent players following incubation or takeover and those that remain independent in terms of governance. On the one hand it excludes both online banks developed by incumbents and also financial services developed by BigTechs. On the other hand, it is also open since our definition does not exclude neobanks. In this regard, our definition is equally useful for researchers, practitioners and students to categorize fintechs and better analyze their strategic development over time.

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