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Introduction

Over the past decade or so, the rise of financial technology, “fintech” for short, has had a profound impact across the globe. This journey began with fintech start-ups disrupting the traditional banking sector by creating innovative financial products and delivering them digitally, almost instantaneously and for a fraction of the cost. Indeed, while fintech has frequently been described as a struggle between incumbent financial institutions and new start-ups, this is no longer the case, and the reality is more complicated.