Research On The Impact Of Financial Technology On The Asset-liability Structure Of Commercial Bank

Commercial banks are intermediary hubs that ensure the effective use of financial resources and support the development of the real economy.They are also a critical link in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy and play a vital role in China’s financial system.However,the development of financial technology has brought a "double-edged sword" effect to the traditional business structure of commercial banks.On the one hand,non-bank financial institutions and fintech companies have become important external forces challenging the banking system.On the other hand,competition within the banking system is becoming increasingly fierce.To explore the specific impact mechanism,this article collected annual report data from 75 listed commercial banks nationwide from 2013 to 2020.It constructed an individual fintech index for commercial banks based on text mining and factor analysis as a micro-level fintech indicator representing the level of fintech development of commercial banks themselves.The article also used the city-level digital inclusive finance index constructed by Peking University’s Digital Finance Research Center based on user data from Ant Group to jointly construct a macro-level overall fintech development index representative of both dimensions.It explored the impact of fintech on the asset-liability structure of commercial banks under two dimensions and further verified the intermediary or masking effect of banking competition.Through studying the specific impact of fintech on the asset-liability of commercial banks,the article aims to further help fintech promote the transformation and development of traditional banks,and also to improve the banks’ own financial digitization awareness,optimize business structure,and continue to play a stable core function in China’s financial sector.The empirical results show that,first,fintech has a significant impact on the liability business of commercial banks.The overall fintech index is negatively correlated with the proportion of bank deposits to total liabilities,while the bank’s individual fintech index has no significant correlation with the proportion of bank deposits to total liabilities.This indicates that with the impact of fintech on banks,traditional commercial bank liability business is declining.Second,fintech has also led to changes in the asset side of bank business structure.Both the overall fintech index and the bank’s individual fintech index are negatively correlated with the proportion of risk assets to total assets.Therefore,the development of fintech by commercial banks can push down their weighted risk assets.Third,the development of fintech affects the asset-liability business structure of banks by promoting competition among banks.In the relationship between fintech,banking competition,and bank asset structure,banking competition has a masking effect.In the relationship between fintech,banking competition,and bank liability structure,banking competition has an intermediary effect.Finally,based on the research conclusions,this article proposes suggestions from both national policy and bank strategy perspectives.