Factors of the fintech market development in the global economy (the case of the alternative lending)

Abstract

Alternative lending is one of the largest segments of the financial technology market in the world which is represented by online platforms specializing in organizing the lending process. The purpose of the article is to assess the impact of key factors on the dynamics of venture capital investments in alternative lending platforms. The objectives of this study are to define the concept of alternative lending, build an econometric model to analyze the factors of development of alternative lending in the world, and interpret the results from the point of view of the prospects for the development of alternative lending. Alternative lending has been defined as a segment of the fintech market that can be characterized as parallel financing of economic activities based on digital platforms through the provision of syndicated loans after decentralized business models. To test the hypotheses of the study, an econometric model was built on the analysis of 5,234 investment transactions completed in the period from 2013 to 2019 in 35 countries of the world and included in the CrunchBase database. According to the model, such factors as the availability of venture capital, the number of workforce, the digital competitiveness of the economy (the factor of future readiness), and the availability of credit information have a significant impact on the dynamics of direct and venture capital investments in alternative lending companies. The obtained results can be considered when improving the national strategy for regulating the alternative lending market, which is especially important for Russia, where the segment of alternative lending is at the stage of stagnation.