Evolving Geographies of FinTech

Full programme here

Registration here

The workshop will take place online via Zoom. Please register via the link above by 23rd November 2020. After registration you will receive a personal link that will grant you access to the workshop.

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The workshop is organised around four themes:

• Economic Geographies of FinTech
• FinTech Consumption and Practices
• Geopolitics of FinTech
• FinTech Markets and Regulation

Theme
This 2-day workshop aims to bring together a global audience of academics, industry practitioners and regulators to take stock of emerging, evolving and maturing geographies of financial technology (FinTech). FinTech operates at the intersections of the financial and technology sectors, where big technology (BigTech) firms and start-ups are creating new platforms, products, and services beyond those currently provided by the traditional finance industry. FinTech domains and applications cover a wide range – from blockchains, cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, to robo-advising, mobile platforms and big data analytics. Instead of being threatened by the ‘disruptive’ potential of FinTech as such, incumbent banks and financial institutions have become more aggressive in the adoption and development of FinTech through the acquisition of technological capabilities, partnerships with tech firms, and setting up FinTech platforms. Novel digital solutions are increasingly rolled out in ‘underbanked’ environments leading to the rapid financial enclosure/inclusion of populations in the Global South. Meanwhile, regulatory attention has shifted towards BigTech platforms and their endeavours into finance and even monetary policy, such as Facebook aiming to develop a global digital currency. Increasingly, there are geopolitical implications to these developments, as American BigTechs and financial regulators are increasingly challenged by major Chinese platforms, amidst broader trade tensions relating to technology and security issues. This raises the increasingly significant role of FinTech in the rise and evolution of ‘surveillance capitalism’ and concerns over the rights of data ownership and utilisation. The relevance and potential impacts of FinTech have become all the more pertinent in the age of coronavirus and the accelerated shift towards online transactions and consumption practices.

Information on FinGeo can be found at http://www.fingeo.net/ and https://www.regionalstudies.org/network/financial-geographies/

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