Sustainability is gaining increasing attention in the international panorama. Practitioners, policymakers and scholars are showing a renewed interest on the topic, due to several intern¿ational policies supporting the implementation of rigorous actions towards sustainability, financial and social inclusion, as well as toward climate change mitigation. Similarly, a particular interest is also addressed to FinTech (combination of financial and technological tools) which, with its wide range of new financial products and services (Cashless Payments, Crowdinvesting, InsurTech, Big Data & Analytics, etc.), can have a positive effect on the leverage of intermediaries and companies, as well as on financial and social inclusion. Indeed, 2018 represented, for the global FinTech market, the year with the highest investment in FinTech solutions (Price Waterhouse Coopers - PWC, 2019).
To date, literature has marginally blended these two relevant industries and field of study trying to understand the role that FinTech may have in fostering sustainability, financial inclusion, and climate change mitigation. Moreover, no study has focused on assessing the intensity of FinTech sustainability in terms of business models, practices and disclosure.
The purpose of this research is to fill this gap in the emerging Sustainability-FinTech literature, evaluating the different level of sustainability of the Italian FinTech.
The research represents a first attempt to consider the sustainability orientation of the FinTech industry in Italy. It appears particularly relevant given the growth of the FinTech phenomena, the financing need of such industry, and the European sustainability momentum. Moreover, the research offers a first attempt to model sustainability of the FinTech industry in Italy. ¿