IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v85y2025ipcs1544612325013686.html

The impact and mechanism analysis of bank digital transformation on green credit

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, GuanJie
  • Song, Fei
  • Liu, Xi

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of bank digital transformation on green credit and its underlying mechanisms using panel data from 41 listed banks in China from 2010 to 2023. The study finds that bank digital transformation significantly enhances green credit allocation through the application of digital technologies across strategic, business, and managerial dimensions. The mechanism operates through dual pathways: alleviating information asymmetry to improve green project identification capabilities and reducing operational costs to enhance efficiency. The research provides micro-level evidence for fintech-enabled green finance, suggesting that banks should accelerate comprehensive digital transformation, regulators should refine green information standards and digital infrastructure, and policymakers should further unlock transformation potential through differentiated incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, GuanJie & Song, Fei & Liu, Xi, 2025. "The impact and mechanism analysis of bank digital transformation on green credit," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PC).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:85:y:2025:i:pc:s1544612325013686
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.108113
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325013686
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.108113?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Su, Chi-Wei & Li, Wenhao & Umar, Muhammad & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona, 2022. "Can green credit reduce the emissions of pollutants?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 205-219.
    2. Xiwen Yin & Dingqing Wang & Jingjing Lu & Lei Liu, 2023. "Does green credit policy promote corporate green innovation? Evidence from China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3187-3215, October.
    3. Xin Li, 2025. "Impact of fintech on bank risks: the role of bank digital transformation," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 895-899, March.
    4. Shen, Yongchang & Fu, Yunyun & Song, Malin, 2023. "Does digital transformation make enterprises greener? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1642-1654.
    5. Xing, Chao & Zhang, Yuming & Tripe, David, 2021. "Green credit policy and corporate access to bank loans in China: The role of environmental disclosure and green innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Zhang, Shengling & Wu, Zihao & He, Yinan & Hao, Yu, 2022. "How does the green credit policy affect the technological innovation of enterprises? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    7. Lu, Yuchen & Gao, Yuqiang & Zhang, Yu & Wang, Junrong, 2022. "Can the green finance policy force the green transformation of high-polluting enterprises? A quasi-natural experiment based on “Green Credit Guidelines”," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    8. Chong Guo & Huisu Lai & Yalin Jiang & Yingyu Wu, 2023. "Debt finance and environmental performance of heavily polluting companies in China: the perspective of the green credit guideline policy," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 212-229, January.
    9. Gao, Wei & Liu, Zebin, 2023. "Green credit and corporate ESG performance: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    10. Luo, Sumei & Yu, Shenghui & Zhou, Guangyou, 2021. "Does green credit improve the core competence of commercial banks? Based on quasi-natural experiments in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    11. Weiping Li & Xiaoqi Chen & Tao Yuan, 2023. "Green credit policy and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S2), pages 2875-2903, June.
    12. Wen, Huwei & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Zhou, Fengxiu, 2021. "Green credit policy, credit allocation efficiency and upgrade of energy-intensive enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Shang, Xiaoting & Niu, Huayong, 2023. "Does the digital transformation of banks affect green credit?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    14. Zhang, Yujin & Ye, Shujun & Liu, Jie & Zhang, Lulu & Li, Jiayi, 2025. "Can digital transformation of commercial banks reduce green credit risks?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. Ding, Xin & Ren, Yajing & Tan, Wenhao & Wu, Haomin, 2023. "Does carbon emission of firms matter for Bank loans decision? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ge, Shilong & Luo, Xiaodan & Li, Yuangang & Zheng, Lanxing, 2024. "The impact of green credit policy on total factor productivity of enterprises," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Tian, Jinfang & Sun, Siyang & Cao, Wei & Bu, Di & Xue, Rui, 2024. "Make every dollar count: The impact of green credit regulation on corporate green investment efficiency," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    3. Liyun Liu & Yefan Liu & Mingming Zhang & Xinyu Zhou & Jia Huang, 2025. "How Does Green Credit Affect Corporate Green Investment Efficiency? A Test Based on Listed Corporations in China’s Heavy Pollution Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Ma, Yanbai & Lu, Ling & Cui, Jingbo & Shi, Xunpeng, 2024. "Can green credit policy stimulate firms’ green investments?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 123-137.
    5. Yamin Li & Guo Wu, 2025. "The green advantage: mapping the profit power of green credit in commercial banks," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 1-29, April.
    6. Wan, Kai & Yu, Xiaolin, 2025. "Green structural monetary policy and firms’ Asymmetric carbon emission reduction: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1914-1928.
    7. Song, Zhihui & Jia, Qinmin & He, Zexiu, 2025. "Green credit guidelines and corporate financialization: Evidence from heavily polluting enterprises in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Li, Chen & Liu, Zhao & Song, Rong & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2024. "The impact of green credit guidelines on environmental performance: Firm-level evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    9. Tan, Ruipeng & Zhu, Wenjun & Xu, Mengmeng & Zhang, Zixuan, 2025. "From voluntary to mandatory implementation: The impact of green credit policy on de-zombification in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    10. Li, Tingting & Meng, Xiangrui & Wang, Weiqing & Yang, Deyong & Nie, Mengxun & Zhang, Qingyu, 2024. "Does green credit policy matter for corporate sustainable innovation? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1788-1806.
    11. Zhang, Xu & Wang, Pengmian & Xu, Qiuxiang, 2024. "Corporate environmental governance under the coordination of fiscal and financial policies: The case of green credit subsidy policy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Liu, Yang & Dong, Kangyin & Nepal, Rabindra & Afi, Hatem, 2025. "How do climate risks affect corporate ESG performance? Micro evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    13. Zhang, Can & Wei, Wei & Du, Chaofei & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul & Lucey, Brian, 2025. "Asymmetric impacts of sustainable credit on industrial low-carbon development: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Wang, Xuefeng & Tang, Man & Wenya, Lv & Xu, Lei, 2025. "ESG performance and cross regional investment: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Huang, Xiaobing & Xie, Jiawei, 2024. "Impact of green credit policies on the global value chain position of heavy polluting enterprises," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    16. Chen, Qian & Li, Yang & Zhao, Qiuyun & Liu, Fan, 2024. "Information quality and cost of credit bond financing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    17. Sun, Chuanwang & Zeng, Yingfang, 2023. "Does the green credit policy affect the carbon emissions of heavily polluting enterprises?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    18. Lin, Boqiang & Pan, Ting, 2024. "The impact of green credit on green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises: Reverse forcing or forward pushing?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    19. Zhang, Jintao & Lei, Xinghui & Su, Taoyong & Li, Ziyao, 2025. "Credit availability of energy-intensive industries in emerging economies: Do financially established firms have better access to credit?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    20. Zheng, Shuxia & Zhang, Xiaoming & Wang, Hu, 2023. "Green credit policy and the stock price synchronicity of heavily polluting enterprises," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 251-264.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:85:y:2025:i:pc:s1544612325013686. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.