FinTech and commercial banks' performance in China: A leap forward or survival of the fittest?

Abstract

As the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic play out globally, the banking industry has been affected in both positive and negative ways, with the crisis creating both opportunities and threats for the collaborations between FinTech and banks. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of FinTech products (FTPs) on commercial bank's performance in China. Required data are collected with a quantitative approach and two self-designed questionnaires were distributed to customers and employees of commercial banks in China. The gathered data were examined using the structural equation modeling technique. The results of this study reveal that the perceived usefulness (PU) of FTPs has positive and significant impacts on customer satisfaction, low expectation of bank employee assistance, bank's service quality and employee work efficiency. Additionally, the perceived difficulty of use (PD) of FTPs has negative and significant impacts on customer satisfaction and low expectation of assistance. Interestingly, there is a positive and significant relationship between PD and banks' service quality and work efficiency, meaning that the service quality and work efficiency can reduce some shortcomings of using FTPs. This study recognizes the need to enhance the understanding of FTPs on non-financial firm performance. This is the first study that helps commercial banks in China understand the perception of FTPs from both customer and employee perspectives.