FINTECH'S QUANTUM IMPACT ON INVESTOR APPRAISALS, MODERATED BY COUNTRY COMPETITIVENESS IN ASIA'S BANKING INDUSTRY

Abstract

Purpose - the purpose of the research is to examine the quantum impact of fintech on investors’ evaluation with the moderating effect of country competitiveness in the Asian banking industry from 2016 to 2022. Methodology - the research includes a sample consisting of 92 privatized commercial banks in Asia, uses cross-country analysis, and analyzes the stock returns using the Fama-French Model (FFM) approach. Panel regression models have been utilized consisting of fixed effect model. Results - the results show that the interaction term (Fintech*country competitiveness) is a jointly significant determinant of stock evaluation. Originality - the study contributes to the literature on fintech funding and stock return relationships, moderated by country competitiveness. Implication - Fintech and country competitiveness interaction has a significant effect on stock returns in the Asia’s banks. Limitation - there was no data available prior to 2016 since fintech was a new technology at the time.

Keywords: Fintech, Investors’ evaluation, Moderation, Competitiveness and Stock returns.

JEL Classification: O2, O3, O4, P2, P3, P4