Novel mechanisms of scalability of financial services in an emerging market context: Insights from Indonesian Fintech Ecosystem

Abstract

Global Fintech phenomenon is driven by new technological innovations that attempt to unbundle and deconstruct conventional business models in the financial services sector. Existing research on platforms focus on platform leadership, governance, generativity and modularity, as well as their impact on agility and innovation. However, there are limited empirical studies, to explore the role of platform operators in providing scalable financial service delivery to a broader population. This study aims to enhance the understanding of an emerging Fintech landscape in Indonesia which is characterized by heterogeneous, dynamic and evolving network of organizations and the innovative mechanisms by which the scalability of financial services could be enhanced. Our study suggests that the mechanisms of platformization, decentralization, localization and democratization by Fintech platform operators positively impact the scalability of financial service delivery. This study has significant implications for policy makers especially in emerging markets who are seeking to scale, facilitate and govern the Fintech revolution, and for Fintech practitioners in the design of technology-enabled delivery of financial services.