Does fintech matter for financial inclusion and financial stability in BRICS markets?

Abstract

We investigate whether fintech development expedites financial inclusion and affects the stability of the financial sector in BRICS economies. We first seek to identify the linkage between Fintech development and financial inclusion in the BRICS economies. We then explore if Fintech poses any threat to financial stability by studying the impact of Fintech on three main factors of financial stability; Country risk, Liquidity, and Price volatility to see any possible threat to financial stability. We apply the robust Global Vector Autoregressive (GVAR) model with Bayesian framework to analyze a monthly dataset ranging from 2015 to 2022. By applying a positive shock to Fintech over financial inclusion and financial stability, we reveal a positive dynamic relationship between fintech development and financial inclusion, with fintech exhibiting a long-term influence on financial inclusion in some BRICS countries than others. However, we found no significant evidence that fintech presents any threat to financial stability; at least not in the short term. We offer several policy implications and future research directions.