FinTech: rethinking financial intermediation. Innovation, markets, and regulation (Management. I textbook per l'università e la professione)

FinTech is often described as the application of technology to finance. This definition, while widespread, is misleading. FinTech is not about technology itself. FinTech is about rethinking financial services starting from users’ needs and using technology as an enabling tool to design more effective solutions. When we shift the focus from money to needs, we begin to dismantle many of the traditional assumptions of finance. This does not mean rejecting traditional finance, but rather reinterpreting it. From this perspective, technology is not the objective, but the enabler; financial services are not products, but solutions to needs; innovation is not incremental, but architectural. This idea represents the underlying thread of the entire book.
Across twelve chapters, the book examines digital payments, digital lending, credit risk modelling and decision systems, blockchain and crypto-assets, wealth management, supply chain finance, and sustainable finance, concluding with the governance of artificial intelligence under the AI Act and digital operational resilience under DORA. Case studies and evidence drawn from European banking portfolios show how these transformations affect risk, capital requirements, and regulation in practice.
The book offers students, practitioners, journalists, entrepreneurs, and investors a framework for rethinking financial intermediation and designing new solutions.

Stefano Bonini teaches FinTech at University of Bologna, Innovation in Banking and Financial Markets at University of Florence, and Risk Management at LUMSA University and School of Management of Politecnico di Milano. He has been invited to teach FinTech at University of Barcelona, Université Côte d’Azur, and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. He has over twenty years of consulting experience in the banking and financial sector, specialising in FinTech, credit risk, and climate risk modelling. He regularly publishes academic research and speaks at national and international conferences.

Giuliana Caivano teaches Business Statistics at University of Milan, Sustainability for Professionals at University of Bologna, and Credit Risk at School of Management of Politecnico di Milano. She has been invited to teach AI and Machine Learning for Banking Risk Management at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. She has over twenty years of experience in banking risk management. She regularly publishes academic research and speaks at national and international conferences.