Fintech Impact on EU Retail Savings and Investment

Abstract

Years after the 2007-2009 financial crisis and European debt crisis, the European Union's (EU) banking system sustained persistent strain due to those two shocks, austerity and economic contraction, political events, poor banking operations, enhanced regulation, and litigation. The European Central Bank's response was significant: short-term interest rates collapsed and markets were flooded with money via quantitative easing programs. Consequently, investors fled risky assets for the safety of government debt. Yet as banks recovered, savers sacrificed asymmetrically: yields on bank deposits and bonds were decimated. As macroeconomic challenges subsided, Fintech increasingly threatened legacy financial institutions' business models to the benefit of the EU savings public. This study assesses the impact by Fintech companies on legacy banks in the EU with respect to savings, lending, and wealth management. This study also assesses and makes recommendations on a strategy by Fintech to benefit savers, and the measures legacy institutions must take to survive amidst this new competitive landscape.