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Dear colleagues,
Electronic Markets is inviting submissions for a Topical Collection on "Contemporary research in financial technology (Fintech)". Please find further details below.
Call for Papers: "Contemporary research in financial technology (Fintech)"
Submission deadline: August 31, 2026
Guest Editors
Rainer Alt, Leipzig University, Germany, rainer.alt@uni-leipzig.de
De Liu, University of Minnesota, USA, deliu@umn.edu
Ke-Wei Huang, National University of Singapore, huangkw@comp.nus.edu.sg
Mingfeng Lin, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, mingfeng.lin@scheller.gatech.edu
Liudmila Zavolokina, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, liudmila.zavolokina@unil.ch
Rob Gleasure, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, rg.digi@cbs.dk
Theme
FinTech emerged as a disruptive force in the financial industry around 2010, introducing innovative applications and business models. Now an established sector, FinTech has revolutionized payment, financing, lending, and insurance through platform-based, customer-oriented, and crowd-based processes. On the one hand, FinTech solutions have reached a maturity, which is characterized by well-adopted solutions that have reached a critical mass as well as by a growing degree of regulation. In practice, investments in FinTech start-up ventures have decreased (see Statista, 2025) and much research has also been published with four special issues in the Electronic Markets journal alone (see Bons et al. 2012, Alt et al. 2018, Alt et al. 2024, Ferretti et al. 2025). On the other hand, ongoing technological advancements like agentic and generative artificial intelligence (Agentic/Gen AI), blockchain/distributed leder technologies, and quantum computing are driving further innovations.
In consequence, digital finance services are becoming more integrated with business processes and the interoperability between financial services has increased. Among the examples are innovative concepts like embedded banking where financial services are closely coupled with real economy processes, contextual banking where financial services adapt to where consumers are, silent banking where financial services are seamlessly integrated in business processes as well as open banking processes where banks offer their services via standardized interfaces on digital platforms .A variety of new services and business models (e.g., InsurTech, RegTech, and PropTech) has surfaced and enriched as well as transformed the landscape of the financial industry. This special issue focuses on these developments from various perspectives (e.g., strategic, organizational, technological issues) and welcomes diverse methodologies, including theory development, qualitative studies, economic research, experiments, surveys, simulations, and design science.
Central issues and topics
Submissions should contribute novel insights to FinTech literature and practice while connecting to information systems research. The special issue seeks contributions to the following topics, but also invites research on related topics:
· Interaction and integration between FinTech and traditional financial institutions (e.g., traditional banks, central banks, and central bank digital currencies)
· Study of segments of FinTech (InsurTech, PropTech, RegTech, Green FinTech and sustainable finance)
· Research on innovation processes in FinTech and analysis of (new) business models (e.g., crowd-based, digital platforms, decentralized business models)
· Upcoming concepts in Fintech (e.g., embedded, contextual, silent, open and ubiquitous finance and banking)
· Use of centralized (e.g., core banking/insurance systems) and decentralized digital platforms (e.g., blockchain and distributed ledger technology) for financial services
· Research on cryptocurrencies, crypto exchanges, and digital assets (e.g., tokenization, Initial Coin and Securitized Token Offerings (ICO/STO))
· Emerging standards in the financial industry (e.g., data/process standards and application programming interfaces) and regulations like PSD in Europe
· Adoption and business value of FinTech models and applications (e.g., financial inclusion and literacy, regulation and governance, diffusion and network effects)
· Emerging FinTech topics and applications (e.g., quantum computing, metaverse, Internet of Things, Agentic and Generative AI)
· Studies of innovative applications in FinTech (e.g., robo-advising, algorithmic trading, portfolio management, market making, and social trading)
· Innovative payment models and systems (e.g., payment networks, micropayments, mobile payments)
Submission
Submissions should be original, unpublished, and not under consideration at any other journal. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are welcome, provided the research exhibits strong methodological rigor. Contributions can take the form of conceptual and theoretical development papers, empirical hypothesis testing, position papers, case-based studies, and more. All papers will undergo a double-blind peer-review process. Submissions must be made via the journal's submission system (https://www.editorialmanager.com/elma/) and comply with the journal's formatting standards. The preferred average article length is approximately 10,000 words, excluding references. Instructions, templates, and general information are available at www.electronicmarkets.org/authors/general-information/. If you would like to discuss any aspect of this special issue, you may either contact the guest editors or the Editorial Office.
Important deadline
* Submission Deadline: August 31, 2026
References
Alt, R., Beck, R., & Smits, M. T. (2018). FinTech and the transformation of the financial industry. Electronic Markets, 28(3), 235–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-018-0310-9
Alt, R., Fridgen, G., & Chang, Y. (2024). The future of fintech - Towards ubiquitous financial services. Electronic Markets 34, 3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-023-00687-8
Bons, R. W. H., Alt, R., Lee, H. G., & Weber, B. (2012). Banking in the Internet and mobile era. Electronic Markets, 22(4), 197–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-012-0110-6
Ferretti, S., D'Angelo, G., Bao, T., & Zhang, L. (2023). Special issue on "Fintech and decentralized finance". Call for Papers, Electronic Markets. https://link.springer.com/collections/hjiffhehga
Statista (2025). Value and number of investments in fintech worldwide from 2010 to 2025. Statista, August 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/719385/investments-into-fintech-companies-globally/.
Best regards,
Rainer Alt, Mathias Klier, Maria Madlberger, Hans-Dieter Zimmermann, Ramona Coia
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Electronic Markets - The International Journal on Networked Business
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Editor-in-Chief: Rainer Alt, Leipzig University
Co-Editors: Mathias Klier, Ulm University; Maria Madlberger, Webster Vienna Private University; Hans-Dieter Zimmermann, Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
Executive Editor: Ramona Coia, Leipzig University
Editorial Office:
c/o Information Systems Institute
Leipzig University
04109 Leipzig, Germany
Mail: editors@electronicmarkets.org
Phone: +49-341-9733600
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Electronic Markets
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