Research ideas tagged “banking”

Did fintech make banking more competitive?

Bank competition appears on 68 recent papers, but only 19 bank-competition papers carry a fintech, digital or platform keyword. Fintech lenders and digital banks were supposed to erode banks' market power. Did loan and deposit margins actually fall where they entered, and for whom?

Papers in the last 30 days — bank competition: 6 · fintech: 11

How banks priced deposits through the rate cycle

Deposit rates appear on only 31 recent papers, although the gap between policy rates and what banks paid savers was one of the largest transfers of the 2022–2024 tightening. How fast did deposit rates follow policy rates this time, and what made some banks pay more?

Papers in the last 30 days — deposit interest rates: 1 · bank deposits: 1

Zombie firms after the end of cheap money

Capital reallocation is a fast-rising keyword in the economics journals. After a decade of near-zero rates, interest rates rose almost everywhere, and Japan ended negative rates in 2024. Did higher rates finally clear out zombie firms and move capital to productive ones?

Papers in the last 30 days — zombie firms: 1 · capital reallocation: 3

Sustainability-linked loans: do the targets bite?

Green credit and green loans appear on 58 recent papers, most of them about China's green credit policy, while sustainability-linked loans, whose interest rate moves with the borrower's ESG targets, appear on only 3. Are the targets ambitious, are they met, and does the rate step actually change behaviour?

Papers in the last 30 days — green loans: 1 · green credit: 3

Does macroprudential tightening push credit into shadow banks?

Macroprudential policy and financial intermediation are both rising in the finance journals, but papers that follow credit out of the regulated banking system are rare, and none of them is in an economics journal. When regulators tighten on banks, how much lending simply moves to shadow banks and private credit funds?

Papers in the last 30 days — macroprudential policy: 13 · shadow banking: 4

Loan officers versus algorithms

Soft information and relationship lending appear on 26 recent papers in the finance and economics journals, but only 5 of them carry an algorithm, machine-learning, fintech or automation keyword. As banks automate small-business lending, what is lost when the loan officer's judgment goes, and can models learn it?

Papers in the last 30 days — soft information: 1

Interest rate risk on bank balance sheets

Interest rate risk appears on just 11 recent papers in the finance journals, only one of them in July–September 2026, although unrealized losses on bank bond holdings triggered the 2023 bank failures. Which banks still carry large unrealized losses, and does supervision now see them?

Flood risk in mortgage lending

Climate risk is one of the most frequent keywords in the finance journals, yet only 5 of 82 recent mortgage papers carry a flood, climate-risk or disaster keyword. Do lenders price flood risk into mortgages, and do they pass the riskiest loans to government-backed buyers?

Papers in the last 30 days — mortgage lending: 1 · flood risk: 1

Fiscal expansion and bank credit in the euro area

Government spending, borrowing costs and the euro area are all rising keywords in the finance journals. When governments borrow more, domestic banks often buy the bonds. Does that crowd out bank lending to firms, and which firms lose the most?

Papers in the last 30 days — government spending: 7 · euro area: 5

Federated learning against money laundering

Federated learning, which trains one model across organizations without pooling their data, is a large topic in the AI journals, yet only 7 of 398 recent papers on it carry a finance, banking, fraud or money-laundering keyword. Money launderers spread transactions across banks precisely because no single bank sees the whole pattern. Can banks catch them together without sharing customer data?

Papers in the last 30 days — federated learning: 23 · anti-money laundering: 1

Expected credit losses in their first real test

Loan loss provisions appear on 23 recent papers in the finance and accounting journals, IFRS 9 on 5 and CECL on 3. The expected-loss rules were designed after 2008 to make banks provision earlier. The 2022–2024 rate shock and the pandemic were their first real tests. Did provisions move earlier, or just more?

Papers in the last 30 days — loan loss provisions: 3 · CECL: 1

Do climate stress tests change lending?

Stress testing appears on 40 recent papers in the finance journals, and climate stress testing on 12. Central banks in Europe and Asia have run climate scenarios on their banks. Did banks that fared badly in the scenarios cut lending to exposed borrowers, or only write longer reports?

Papers in the last 30 days — stress testing: 2

Would a digital currency drain bank deposits?

Central bank digital currencies appear on 56 recent papers in the finance and economics journals, but only 14 of them carry a deposit, bank-lending, bank-run or financial-stability keyword. Pilots now run in China, Europe and elsewhere. If people can hold central bank money directly, how much would leave banks, and when?

Papers in the last 30 days — central bank digital currency: 6 · bank deposits: 1

Bank runs at the speed of social media

Deposit insurance and market discipline are rising topics after bank failures in which deposits left within hours. Yet only 3 recent papers on bank runs or deposits carry a social-media or digital-banking keyword. Does online talk now set the speed of runs, and should deposit insurance and liquidity rules change with it?

Papers in the last 30 days — bank runs: 2 · market discipline: 1