The impact of Fintech on the financial services industry

Abstract

The rise of financial technologies (Fintech) and innovative startups in the financial services industry, over the past years, confront traditional institutions with major challenges and force them to rethink their way of doing business. These fintech companies disrupt this business sector by developing new and innovative solutions enabling to enhance the customer experience in a more cost-efficient manner. The objective of this thesis is thus to investigate the potential and actual impact of fintech on the financial services industry, globally and in the Luxembourg market.

Throughout this thesis, a panorama of existing fintech hubs will be established to gain an overview of the current environment before the impact of fintech and their disruptive solutions on the banking and investment advisory industry will be studied. The current impact of the financial technologies will be quantified by a global adoption index. Furthermore, with the assistance of interviewees, the potential of the Luxembourg market, with regards to the adoption of fintech, will be examined.

The findings of this paper confirm the growing impact of fintech on the financial services industry. Banks, financial institutions and traditional investment advisors are highly recommended to rethink their business model and to integrate digital solutions through collaboration with innovative companies in order to remain competitive and to be able to keep up and with the rising fintech companies. Countries as Luxembourg, facing several limitations, should focus on specific business areas, in which they hold a dominant position, to be able to establish themselves in this new environment and play a major role.