The Financial Stability Board says that the Covid pandemic has enabled Big Tech firms like Google, Amazon and Apple and fintechs to widen their footprint in financial services, with significant implications for incumbents and consumers.
The
FSB report
acknowledges that Big Tech and fintech firms’ expansion into financial
services can bring benefits such as improved cost efficiencies and wider
financial inclusion for previously underserved groups. However, it also
cautions over the potential for market dominance.
"There could
be negative financial stability implications from dependence on a
limited number of Big Tech and fintech providers in some markets, the
complexity and opacity of their partnership activities, and potential
incentives for risk taking by incumbent financial institutions to
preserve profitability," states the report. "There could also be
consumer protection risks from greater dependency on technology and data
protection issues. In addition, the limited number of cloud service
providers could magnify the impact of any operational vulnerability.
The
FSB says that the growth of Big Techs in particular underscores the
need to address data gaps that currently hamper the assessment of those
firms’ financial risks and systemic importance.
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