Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banks
Abstract This paper investigates the impact of FinTech on MENA financial institutions’ profitability. Data have been gathered using the Refinitiv Eikon platform, and from annual reports and the World Bank database for banks included in 11 countries in the MENA region. The sample comprised 63 banks d...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Discover Sustainability |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-01374-8 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850137514358079488 |
|---|---|
| author | Bashar Abu Khalaf Adel Al-Sharkas Adel Sarea |
| author_facet | Bashar Abu Khalaf Adel Al-Sharkas Adel Sarea |
| author_sort | Bashar Abu Khalaf |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract This paper investigates the impact of FinTech on MENA financial institutions’ profitability. Data have been gathered using the Refinitiv Eikon platform, and from annual reports and the World Bank database for banks included in 11 countries in the MENA region. The sample comprised 63 banks during the past 14 years (2010–2023). Text mining was applied to all banks’ annual reports to create a FinTech index measure. Additionally, Tobit regression was applied to empirically explore the impact of the FinTech Index on MENA banks' profitability, controlling for firm characteristics (such as size, capital adequacy and market share) and macroeconomic variables (such as GDP and inflation). Our results suggest that greater FinTech inclusion in banks increases profitability, with larger banks, adequate capital banks, and banks with larger market share all expected to perform better. Similarly, our results suggest that macroeconomic variables (GDP and inflation) affect bank profitability positively. This implies that top-level managers should incorporate greater use of FinTech into their long-term decision-making to enhance performance. The results are robust based on the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) regression results. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c0cc3cd988fd4798b41b5cf8db31598f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2662-9984 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discover Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-c0cc3cd988fd4798b41b5cf8db31598f2025-08-20T02:30:49ZengSpringerDiscover Sustainability2662-99842025-06-016111610.1007/s43621-025-01374-8Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banksBashar Abu Khalaf0Adel Al-Sharkas1Adel Sarea2Department of Accounting and Finance, College of Business, University of Doha for Science and Technology, and Finance department, School of Business, The University of JordanCentral Bank of JordanDepartment of Accounting and Economics, Ahlia UniversityAbstract This paper investigates the impact of FinTech on MENA financial institutions’ profitability. Data have been gathered using the Refinitiv Eikon platform, and from annual reports and the World Bank database for banks included in 11 countries in the MENA region. The sample comprised 63 banks during the past 14 years (2010–2023). Text mining was applied to all banks’ annual reports to create a FinTech index measure. Additionally, Tobit regression was applied to empirically explore the impact of the FinTech Index on MENA banks' profitability, controlling for firm characteristics (such as size, capital adequacy and market share) and macroeconomic variables (such as GDP and inflation). Our results suggest that greater FinTech inclusion in banks increases profitability, with larger banks, adequate capital banks, and banks with larger market share all expected to perform better. Similarly, our results suggest that macroeconomic variables (GDP and inflation) affect bank profitability positively. This implies that top-level managers should incorporate greater use of FinTech into their long-term decision-making to enhance performance. The results are robust based on the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) regression results.https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-01374-8FinTech indexData text miningFinancial sectorBank performanceMENATobit regression |
| spellingShingle | Bashar Abu Khalaf Adel Al-Sharkas Adel Sarea Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banks Discover Sustainability FinTech index Data text mining Financial sector Bank performance MENA Tobit regression |
| title | Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banks |
| title_full | Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banks |
| title_fullStr | Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banks |
| title_short | Realizing opportunities: the influence of FinTech on the success of MENA banks |
| title_sort | realizing opportunities the influence of fintech on the success of mena banks |
| topic | FinTech index Data text mining Financial sector Bank performance MENA Tobit regression |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-01374-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT basharabukhalaf realizingopportunitiestheinfluenceoffintechonthesuccessofmenabanks AT adelalsharkas realizingopportunitiestheinfluenceoffintechonthesuccessofmenabanks AT adelsarea realizingopportunitiestheinfluenceoffintechonthesuccessofmenabanks |