| Abstract [eng] |
This research explores the integration and effects of FinTech to sustainable development in companies in Nairobi stock exchange market listed firms. The subject of research is the evaluation of robo-advisory services, digital payment platforms, and blockchain in the enhancement of sustainable development goals in these firms. The study involved all the 66 companies listed on the NSE and had a sample of 154 respondents drawn from the variety of functional departments in their companies comprising of Finance, IT and Operations. The methodology involved the use of a structured questionnaire to capture data on the implementation of FinTech, where the statistical tools were employed to evaluate the level of FinTech implementation as well as the degree of its effect on sustainable development goals for the NSE-listed companies.The study also identified that FinTech, mainly digital payments, and robo-advisory services have made a positive impact on the sustainable development goals of the NSE-listed firms. Nonetheless, blockchain technology seemed to have the potential to bring positive changes as the other FinTech solutions, especially with regard to magnifying environmental advantage. The findings showed that digital payment solutions and robo-advisory services implemented in organizations enhanced the efficiency, customer relationship, and transparency that in return enhance high-level sustainability targets. Based on the results of the analysis of the collected data, the importance of FinTech solutions for supporting sustainable development in listed companies in terms of social and economic significance was determined. Observations made include that Fintech, especially mobile payment solutions, create solutions that foster financial inclusion and economic stability, and that robo-advisory solutions create increased solutions that help in investment accessibility and investment decisions. Nevertheless, there were positive outcomes from these technologies, the implication and use of blockchain were rather nascent, also revealed that more research was needed in this field. Therefore, the study recommends that there should be more research and development in FinTech to support the improvement of sustainability strategies implemented in firms in Kenya. Suggestions include the promotion of blockchain adoption, improving the FinTech readiness of laws and regulations, and developing collaboration between financial services and technology solutions firms. In future studies the authors suggest replicating this research using a long duration to determine the long-term impact of FinTech on sustainable development; secondly, the scale should assess the barriers and opportunities to companies adopting blockchain. Furthermore, widening the survey scope to other African stock exchanges can inform the research about the regional trends of FinTech integration and sustainable development. This study contributes to the existing scholarship on financial technology and sustainability to inform policy decisions and strategies for future research in the Kenyan financial market. |
