Fintech-Enabled Bank Loan Allocation:Can Sesame Seeds and Watermelons be Picked Up Together?
The mission of Fintech development is to enhance the ability of financial sector to serve real economy.This paper investigates the effect of the development of bank-level Fintech on banks'behaviors of loan allocation.We find that while an increase in commercial banks'Fintech can significant-ly boost the growth in retail loans,it can lead to a crowding-out effect on the loans originated to real enterprises,especially for banks with tight loan re-sources.We also document that the loan allocation behavior stylized by the crowding-out effect on real enterprises is a rational decision of banks aiming to increase returns,reduce losses,and diminish risks.Further,heterogeneity analyses show that the crowding-out effect is also more pronounced for banks with lower dependence on brick-and-mortar branches,banks located in regions with high digital financial literacy,and in macro environments with high consumer confidence scores and tight monetary policy.This paper offers novel evidence on potential negative impact of the development of Fintech-enabled retail loans on real economy from a unique perspective of crowding out the loans originated to real enterprises,which can offer helpful policy insights for regulators'efforts to support the high-quality development of Fintech in China.
万方数据
维普
