Bank <scp>FinTech</scp> and Risk Inefficiency in China's Banking Industry

ABSTRACT This paper examines the effects of bank FinTech on credit risk inefficiency using data for Chinese commercial banks from 2008 to 2017. We first construct a bank FinTech index with the help of web crawler technology and the data mining theory. Then, we examine the effects of bank FinTech on credit risk inefficiency. The results show that the development of bank FinTech significantly reduces credit risk inefficiency. Further, we explore the indirect effects and find that bank FinTech increases non‐interest business and thus reduces credit risk inefficiency. Finally, we find that the beneficial effects of bank FinTech on credit risk inefficiency are weaker for listed banks and state‐owned banks.