Is the collapse of the traditional banking industry imminent? Although this is a thoughtprovoking statement and numerous arguments could be made for its inevitable demise in the faceof the fast moving and highly innovative Fintech industry, the fact remains that the traditionalbanking industry still serves as the primary financial intermediary when it comes to almost all ofour financial needs. But what if this wasn't the case? The rise of the Fintech industry has broughtwith it a tidal wave of new innovations and technologies that have in more recent yearschallenged the traditional banking industries' unassailable position in the credit market. Onerelatively new phenomena in the Fintech industry is Peer-to-Peer lending (P2P). Is this newphenomena here to stay and can it possibly cause tremendous damage to the existing incumbent’sposition in the industry? For this study we decided to investigate the relationship between peer to peer lending and thetraditional banking industry in Sweden for a variety of reasons. Firstly, P2P lending challengesthe banks dominance in their most profitable sector which is lending. This is because P2Plending bypasses the banks role in this financial transaction, cutting them out as middlemen inthe lending process by connecting the lender and borrower directly. Furthermore, P2P lending isable to provide better interest rates due to lower operational costs as well as a faster loanapproval process as well as being able to target isolated and underserved customer segmentsthought to be outside of the banks risk parameters. These factors put together present a unique challenge to the banks in terms of competition anddisruption. Our research investigated whether or not the P2P lending platforms in Sweden did infact cause disruption to the traditional banking industry or if they were creating a separate marketindependent from the traditional banking industry. The purpose of our study was to illuminatethe relationship between P2P lending and the traditional banking industry in a developedeconomy in order to contribute to the ongoing debate about the impacts that P2P lending has onthe banking industry. In our research and through our empirical findings we arrived at some very interestingconclusions. The banking industry is indeed being challenged and slowly pushed out of theconsumer lending sector, although to attribute this solely to P2P lending would be incorrect.Furthermore, although all of the banks we interviewed agreed that P2P lending was not a threatfrom a strategic viewpoint, the argument could also be made that disruption is occurring asincumbent firms ignore the needs of those downmarket and as a result new entrants thentargeting these customer segments gain traction and eventually target incumbent firms mostprofitable customer segment. Our findings conclude that P2P lending has indeed causeddisruption in the traditional banking industry although the level of disruption caused by P2Plending specifically is still up to debate.

This paper discusses the possibilities of predicting changes in stock pricing at a high frequency applying a multi-level neural network without the use of recurrent neurons or any other time series analysis, as suggested in a paper byChen et al. [2017]. The paper tries to adapt the model presented in a paper by Chen et al. [2017] by making the network deeper, feeding it data of higher resolution and changing the activation functions. While the resulting accuracy is not as high as other models, this paper might prove useful for those interested in further developing neural networks using data with high resolution and to the fintech business as a whole.

Centralized data storage and reconciliation by trusted intermediaries has historically put financial systems in the hands of a single central parties. The emergence of bitcoin and blockchain, combined with the 2008 financial crisis, has shifted the Swedish financial sector’s traditional perspectives on democratization, centralization, transparency and automation. Trade and export finance is one of many sectors investigating how blockchain and distributed ledger technology can be used other than as a digital currency system. Swedish trade and export finance connects importers, exporters, banks, credit providers, customs, and transporters into a fragmented and complex process with many stakeholders. Sweden further has a history of quickly adopting technological innovations. Banks therefore face a dynamic environment and an inconsistent, manual operative process that removes profitability incentives in providing small enterprises with credit. The adoption of DLT could provide efficiency gains and cost savings in administration, communication, reconciliation and accounting. In this thesis, the costs, benefits, and remaining barriers of implementing distributed ledger technology in Swedish trade finance are identified. Further, Swedish contextual factors’ effect on the rate of adoption is addressed. The chosen methodology of deep interviews and thorough studying of literature provides an assessment of the potential transition dynamics, forming a foundation for future investment decisions. The conclusions drawn suggest that the main costs related to adoption lie in research and development and implementation. R&D costs for distributed ledgers in the Swedish financial sector during 2019 were approximated to USD 40 million. The main benefits of automation, efficiency and reduced level of complexity were concluded to likely outweigh the costs within approximately ten to twenty years. Experience will allow companies to optimize governance structures and consensus mechanisms, while learning to expose parts of networks into public space. The innovative, adaptive Swedish market environment presumably enables faster than average diffusion of innovation, while remaining barriers in cooperation, trust, interoperability and regulation may extend the adoption process

Bakgrund: Bakgrunden presenterar digitaliseringens utveckling och jämför det med media som tidigare varit analogt. Därefter redogörs för utvecklingen av automatiserade finansiella rådgivare och de utvecklingsstadier det genomgått. I samband med utvecklingen påträffas olika aspekter hos unga småsparare som påverkar förtroendet som övergången från att använda mänskliga finansiella rådgivare till robotrådgivare. Syftet: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur företag inom fondförsäljning och aktiemäklarbanker kan nyttja robotrådgivningstjänster bland unga småsparare. Undersökningen fokuserar främst på aspekterna informationsspridning och riskupplevelse.  Teoretisk referensram: Denna studie utgår från tre olika teorier, vilka omfattar Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, Theory of perceived risk och Innovation Diffusion Theory. Metod: Studien utför en kvantitativ ansats genom en tvärsnittsdesign. Urvalsramen inkluderar unga vuxna som är 18 till 30 år. Datainsamlingen genomfördes via sociala medier och skolplattformar, och totalt deltog 151 unga högskolestudenter i enkätundersökningen.  Slutsats: Utifrån resultaten förekommer det en positiv korrelation mellan användningen och riskupplevelsen, vilket gör att robotrådgivare har en möjlighet att attrahera unga vuxna till segmentet.

Background Traditional banks monopolized financial services, but the 2008 crisis spurred Fintech's emergence as an alternative. Fintech challenges banks with innovative solutions, while Sweden thrives as a Fintech hub. Profitability is vital due to the recent shift in focus from growth. Modern Fintech research is lacking, thus creating gaps in both knowledge and studies among the Swedish Fintech-sphere.  Purpose  The study analyzes leverage, return on equity, and bank size ratios in Swedish Fintech companies. It examines their impact on profit margin and aims to identify correlations. The results aim to enhance understanding and provide guidance for optimizing key figures to increase profitability among Swedish Fintech-companies.  Methodology The study utilized a quantitative approach with a deductive method and cross-sectional design. Data consisted of secondary data and was collected through the database Retriever Business. A total of 1198 observations were analyzed using correlation matrix, bivariate, and multivariate regression analyses.  Results  The quantitative analysis revealed that both debt to equity ratio and return on equity has a significant relationship, while bank size has only a partially significant relationship with profit margin.  Conclusion  Swedish Fintech-companies reveals a positive relationship between return on equity (ROE) and profitability. Furthermore, the leverage ratio also positively affects profitability. Moreover, Bank size shows a slight negative impact.

This study focuses on the factors influencing the diffusion of FinTech in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, analysing both financial institutions and technology companies. The research acknowledges the challenges associated with the spread of FinTech and aims to address these issues. The research employs Institutional Theory. To achieve comprehensive insights, a qualitative technique is employed. The initial phase involves an extensive literature review to understand FinTech and identify gaps in academic research. Subsequently, the impact of PESTEL factors is highlighted based on the literature. In the third stage, semi-structured interviews are conducted with 25 participants, representing three to four individuals per country. The Thematic Analysis approach is employed to analyse the interview data. The study's findings reveal that several factors significantly influence the adoption of FinTech services as a preferred transaction method. Perceived utility, security, and social impact concerns are identified as drivers of behavioural intentions. Additionally, the technical attributes and ease of use of digital tools impact behavioural patterns. Furthermore, the innovation and technical features embedded within FinTech products and services contribute to their diffusion and acceptance. The research has practical implications for both academia and practitioners in the FinTech industry. It assists financial service providers and institutions in designing user-centric FinTech products and services. Enhancing security and usability is crucial to improving the user experience and consumer confidence. By considering technological and behavioural characteristics and analysing the impact of PESTEL elements, this study contributes to the existing literature on technology diffusion, providing valuable insights to academics and practitioners.

Access to finance is often a vital tool for a company to make investments which in turn leads to increased generation of income. In 2022, the amount of lending to non-financial companies increased by around 13 %. Banks' traditional lending channels have recently been challenged by DeFi. Within DeFi, no central intermediary is used, the security provided is cryptocurrencies and the transaction history is public. The most common cryptocurrency used in DeFi is bitcoin. At the time of writing, bitcoin has a market capitalization of approximately $521 million. The use of DeFi has grown rapidly in 2022 as cryptocurrencies worth just under $110 billion were pledged in DeFi as collateral for credit. The EBA has previously warned about the risks of cryptocurrencies. Despite warnings, neither case law nor any clear legislation regarding cryptocurrencies and creditors protection has thus been created. Though, there is a proposal from EU that will create a uniform regulation for cryptocurrencies that are not currently covered by the EU's existing regulatory framework for financial services, the so-called MiCA regulation. In Swedish legislation, there is an ongoing investigation on how to handle cryptocurrencies. However, neither the proposals at EU-level nor national level deal with substantive legal aspects such as creditors protection. The purpose of the thesis is to present a proposal for what bitcoin as property is classified as according to Swedish law and to identify the most appropriate legal aspect when bitcoins are used within DeFi. Based on the purpose, the following questions arise (i) What type of property should the cryptocurrency bitcoin be legally classified as? (ii) How can creditor protection be achieved when a transaction with bitcoin is made? (iii) How can creditor protection be achieved when bitcoin is used as collateral? In this thesis, the legal dogmatic method and law analogies will be used to answer the questions. The conclusions are that bitcoin should first be seen as a financial instrument according to MiFID II and creditor protection in the case of acquired ownership of bitcoins can basically never be achieved. Creditor protection in case of retained ownership can be achieved with analogous application of RVL and using registration as an element of property rights. When bitcoin is used as collateral, creditor protection can be achieved through the property right element of registration or tradition. In the case of three-party escrow, notification of transfer of claim must be made to the person who holds the pledged property in accordance with the 1936 Pawn Law.

This thesis examines and provides insight into the financial services industry and how the new payment services directive, PSD2, may come to change consumer behaviour and thereby the industry. The research is exploratory and relies on a quantitative consumer-facing survey as well as four semi-structured interviews with representatives from some of Sweden's largest banks and third party payment providers. The results show that it is likely that the increased competition will open up the market for new actors in the market acting as financial marketplaces thereby leading to minimising the tradeoff between simplicity and multiple providers. As such, in the future we will likely see less consumer loyalty and more focus on the individual products and services as opposed to who is providing them. / Detta examensarbete undersöker och ämnar att bidra med insikt i den svenska finanstjänstesektorn och hur det nya betaltjänstdirektivet, PSD2, kan komma att förändra konsumentbeteenden och därmed branschen. Arbetet är explorativt och utgår från en enkät riktad till konsumenter samt fyra stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer med representanter från några av Sveriges största banker och tredjepartsaktörer. Resultaten visar att det är sannolikt att ökad konkurrens kommer att öppna upp marknaden för nya aktörer att verka som finansiella marknadsplatser vilket minimerar kompromissen av att välja mellan enkelhet och flertalet leverantörer. Följaktligen kommer vi sannolikt se mindre konsumentlojalitet och mer fokus på de individuella produkterna och tjänsterna snarare än leverantör.

The concept of open banking is on the rise in the financial industry. Not only are banks taking an interest in this topic, but many financial technology start-ups are developing as well. One particular player can be considered challenger banks; they have gained a high degree of digital competence and agility to adapt to changes in the industry. As a result of this trend, these financial players raise the question of what the opportunities are. This study aims to identify potential opportunities for challenger banks and to provide a practical model for companies to assess the opportunities. The results of the study show that the opportunities can be divided into three segments: personalized banking services; modularity; as well as embedded finance. Finally, an opportunity evaluation canvas was developed, providing banks a systematic and comprehensive model to evaluate an opportunity. / Begreppet open banking är på frammarsch inom finansbranschen. Ämnet intresserar därmed såväl bankerna som många nystartade företag inom finansteknologi. En aktör är så kallade utmanarbankerna; de sitter på en hög grad av digital kompetens och flexibilitet vad gäller förändringar i branschen. Som ett resultat av denna trend väcker dessa finansiella aktörer frågan om vilka möjligheter som finns. Den här studien syftar till att identifiera potentiella möjligheter för utmanarbanker, samt att tillhandahålla ett praktisk ramverk inom vilket företag kan bedöma dessa möjligheter. Resultaten visar att möjligheterna kan delas in i tre kategorier: personliga banktjänster; modularitet; samt plattformar och ekosystem. Slutligen utvecklades en utvärderingsmall för möjligheter, som ger bankerna en systematisk och omfattande modell för att utvärdera en möjlighet.

金融科技之網路借貸平台(P2P Lending或Alternative Lending Platform)在互聯網、物聯網、帳聯網、大數據、社群媒體、行動科技等磅礡發展之下，有效地在存貸業務範疇之出借人和借款人匹配連結起來，在傳統金融機構無法滿足其投資與融資需求情境下，創造出嶄新的商業模式、營運模式。 本研究蒐集三個國外的個案研究：美國的Lending Club、英國的Zopa、香港的AMP，再貫穿以兩個模型分析：Mark W. Johnson等學者提出的 - 商業模式再創新 (Reinventing Your Business Model)、以及Michael E. Porter提出的 - 波特的競爭五力分析 (Porter five forces analysis)。 融合學術架構、產業實務，透析出網路借貸平台的關鍵成功因素，並萃取精華而提出對政府主管機關、金融科技平台業者、傳統金融機構之建言與芻議，期臻拋磚引玉與產業借鍳之效。