Financial Technology (“FinTech”) firms invest significantly more in customer capital relative to traditional financial firms, and such investment builds valuable customer capital. Higher investment by FinTech firms is not accounted for by sectoral focus or differences in firm age. Reasons for higher customer capital investment are explored, including the need to build trust with customers, the focus on downstream segments of the financial marketplace, the operation of platform-based business models, and a heavier reliance on valuable customer data.

More on this topic

BFI Working Paper·May 27, 2026

The AGI Race and Existential Risk

Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Wioletta Dziuda, and Mattias Polborn
Topics: Technology & Innovation
BFI Working Paper·May 18, 2026

Sophisticated Borrowing Constraints and Macroeconomic Dynamics

Al-Mahdi Ebsim, Chen Lian, Yueran Ma, Pablo Ottonello, and Diego J. Perez
Topics: Financial Markets
BFI Working Paper·May 12, 2026

Data Centers and Local Economies in the Age of AI: A Shift–Share Approach

Fernando Alvarez, David Argente, Joyce Chow, and Diana Van Patten
Topics: Technology & Innovation