Financial innovation, digital disintermediation at play

Blockchain, “uberization” of banks and cybercurrencies: in recent years, a powerful wind of innovation has been blowing through the finance sector with the aim of disintermediation. For the current movement, this term refers to direct access to the customer without going through the bank. More than disintermediation, it is above all the substitution or addition of other intermediaries between the bank and the customer that is taking place, with the creation of platforms that are far from having won the trust of users.

Beyond the promise of financing accessible to all, bypassing banking oligopolies and the threshold effects of financial markets, this disruption raises real questions about cyber security, the use of personal data, infrastructures and economic independence. While open data and the monetization of data on platforms seem difficult to reconcile with protection, what guarantees does the new finance offer users? Do the benefits outweigh the risks?