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Fintech Borrowers: Lax Screening or Cream-Skimming?

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  • Marco Di Maggio
  • Vincent Yao

Abstract

We study the personal credit market using unique individual-level data covering fintech and traditional lenders. We show that fintech lenders acquire market share by lending first to higher-risk borrowers and then to safer borrowers, and rely mainly on hard information to make credit decisions. Fintech borrowers are significantly more likely to default than neighbor individuals with the same characteristics borrowing from traditional financial institutions. Furthermore, they tend to experience a short-lived reduction in the cost of credit, because their indebtedness increases more than non-fintech borrowers after loan origination. However, fintech lenders’ pricing strategies are likely to take this into account.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Di Maggio & Vincent Yao, 2021. "Fintech Borrowers: Lax Screening or Cream-Skimming?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(10), pages 4565-4618.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:34:y:2021:i:10:p:4565-4618.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhaa142
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    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth

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