IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v78y2025ics0275531925002831.html

Does efficiency matter in M&A of FinTech firms?

Author

Listed:
  • Pampurini, Francesca
  • Quaranta, Anna Grazia
  • Onorato, Grazia

Abstract

The increasing presence of FinTech firms is reshaping the structure, behaviour and business models of the different players operating within the financial sector. The aim of this study is to understand whether there is any relationship between the achievement of specific efficiency levels by FinTech firms and their greater/minor involvement in M&A transactions. Since such a relationship could be in the opposite direction, the topic is important for a wide range of financial stakeholders, from individual investors to key market players and regulators. We measured efficiency via two different Stochastic Data Envelopment Analysis (SDEA) models. The results, obtained starting from a hand-collected data set made up of Italian FinTechs operating in the period 2021–2023, show that M&A transactions essentially involved firms characterised by both quite high or quite low levels of efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Pampurini, Francesca & Quaranta, Anna Grazia & Onorato, Grazia, 2025. "Does efficiency matter in M&A of FinTech firms?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925002831
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.103027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531925002831
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.103027?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. Maretno Harjoto & Ha-Chin Yi & Tosporn Chotigeat, 2012. "Why do banks acquire non-banks?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 36(3), pages 587-612, July.
    2. Zhao, Yuliang & Ma, Furong, 2025. "Will fintech enhance financial regulation?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Yasser Alhenawi & Martha Stilwell, 2017. "Value creation and the probability of success in merger and acquisition transactions," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1041-1085, November.
    4. Kao, Chiang & Liu, Shiang-Tai, 2009. "Stochastic data envelopment analysis in measuring the efficiency of Taiwan commercial banks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 196(1), pages 312-322, July.
    5. Thomas R. Eisenmann & Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne, 2009. "Opening Platforms: How, When and Why?," Chapters, in: Annabelle Gawer (ed.), Platforms, Markets and Innovation, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Bianconi, Marcelo & Tan, Chih Ming, 2019. "Evaluating the instantaneous and medium-run impact of mergers and acquisitions on firm values," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 71-87.
    7. Wai‐Peng Wong & Qiang Deng & Ming-Lang Tseng & Loo‐Hay Lee & Chee‐Wooi Hooy, 2014. "A Stochastic Setting To Bank Financial Performance For Refining Efficiency Estimates," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 225-245, October.
    8. Onorato, Grazia & Pampurini, Francesca & Quaranta, Anna Grazia, 2024. "Lending activity efficiency. A comparison between fintech firms and the banking sector," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    9. Berger, Allen N. & Humphrey, David B., 1997. "Efficiency of financial institutions: International survey and directions for future research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 175-212, April.
    10. Zhimin Huang & Susan Li, 2001. "Stochastic DEA Models With Different Types of Input-Output Disturbances," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 95-113, March.
    11. Francesca Pampurini & Anna Grazia Quaranta, 2018. "Sustainability and Efficiency of the European Banking Market after the Global Crisis: The Impact of Some Strategic Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Feng, Chao & Zhong, Siqi & Wang, Miao, 2024. "How can green finance promote the transformation of China's economic growth momentum? A perspective from internal structures of green total-factor productivity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    13. Lars Hornuf & Milan F. Klus & Todor S. Lohwasser & Armin Schwienbacher, 2021. "How do banks interact with fintech startups?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1505-1526, October.
    14. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    15. Kao, Chiang & Liu, Shiang-Tai, 2004. "Predicting bank performance with financial forecasts: A case of Taiwan commercial banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(10), pages 2353-2368, October.
    16. Hay, Donald A & Liu, Guy S, 1997. "The Efficiency of Firms: What Difference Does Competition Make?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(442), pages 597-617, May.
    17. Pandey, Dharen Kumar & Hassan, M.Kabir & Kumari, Vineeta & Zaied, Younes Ben & Rai, Varun Kumar, 2024. "Mapping the landscape of FinTech in banking and finance: A bibliometric review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    18. Cummins, J. David & Xie, Xiaoying, 2008. "Mergers and acquisitions in the US property-liability insurance industry: Productivity and efficiency effects," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 30-55, January.
    19. Balak, Sima & Behzadi, Mohammad Hassan & Nazari, Ali, 2021. "Stochastic copula-DEA model based on the dependence structure of stochastic variables: An application to twenty bank branches," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 326-341.
    20. Olesen, Ole B. & Petersen, Niels Christian, 2016. "Stochastic Data Envelopment Analysis—A review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(1), pages 2-21.
    21. Xinao Li, 2024. "The Impact of Technology Mergers and Acquisitions on Enterprise Sustainable Competitiveness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-31, March.
    22. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-332.
    23. Hien Thu Nguyen & Kenneth Yung & Qian Sun, 2012. "Motives for Mergers and Acquisitions: Ex-Post Market Evidence from the US," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(9-10), pages 1357-1375, November.
    24. Bellardini, Luca & Del Gaudio, Belinda Laura & Previtali, Daniele & Verdoliva, Vincenzo, 2022. "How do banks invest in fintechs? Evidence from advanced economies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    25. Fidrmuc, Jana P. & Xia, Chunling, 2019. "M&A deal initiation and managerial motivation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 320-343.
    26. Peter Wanke & Md. Abul Kalam Azad, 2018. "Efficiency in Asian railways: a comparison between data envelopment analysis approaches," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(6), pages 573-599, August.
    27. Naaguesh Appadu & Anna Faelten & Scott Moeller & Valeriya Vitkova, 2016. "Assessing market attractiveness for mergers and acquisitions: the M&A Attractiveness Index Score," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(8-9), pages 732-755, July.
    28. Adey Tarawneh & Aisyah Abdul-Rahman & Syajarul Imna Mohd Amin & Mohd Fahmi Ghazali, 2024. "A Systematic Review of Fintech and Banking Profitability," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, January.
    29. Kyung Yoon Kwon & Philip Molyneux & Livia Pancotto & Alessio Reghezza, 2024. "Banks and FinTech Acquisitions," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 41-75, February.
    30. Zheng, Hao & Mao, Mike Qinghao, 2024. "Fintech mergers and acquisitions," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    31. Pagano, Michael S., 2021. "The shrinking role of foreign operations at global financial institutions and its impact on efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    32. Quaranta, Anna Grazia & Raffoni, Anna & Visani, Franco, 2018. "A multidimensional approach to measuring bank branch efficiency," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(2), pages 746-760.
    33. Wang, Jiaxin & Yuan, Xue & Huang, Xiang & Liu, Chengxin & Zhang, Pengdong, 2024. "Can digitalization facilitate cross-border M&A? Evidence from Chinese A-share listed companies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    34. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    35. Fethi, Meryem Duygun & Pasiouras, Fotios, 2010. "Assessing bank efficiency and performance with operational research and artificial intelligence techniques: A survey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 204(2), pages 189-198, July.
    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. Pampurini, Francesca & Pezzola, Annagiulia & Quaranta, Anna Grazia, 2024. "Lending business models and FinTechs efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Vincenzo Pacelli & Francesca Pampurini & Anna Grazia Quaranta, 2023. "Analyzing Banks’ Performance During The Recent Breakdowns. What Were The Main Drivers?," Journal of Financial Management, Markets and Institutions (JFMMI), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(02), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Vaneet Bhatia & Sankarshan Basu & Subrata Kumar Mitra & Pradyumna Dash, 2018. "A review of bank efficiency and productivity," OPSEARCH, Springer;Operational Research Society of India, vol. 55(3), pages 557-600, November.
    4. Thanh Ngo & Kan Wai Hong Tsui, 2022. "Estimating the confidence intervals for DEA efficiency scores of Asia-Pacific airlines," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3411-3434, September.
    5. Wai‐Peng Wong & Qiang Deng & Ming-Lang Tseng & Loo‐Hay Lee & Chee‐Wooi Hooy, 2014. "A Stochastic Setting To Bank Financial Performance For Refining Efficiency Estimates," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 225-245, October.
    6. Chiang Kao & Shiang-Tai Liu, 2022. "Stochastic efficiencies of network production systems with correlated stochastic data: the case of Taiwanese commercial banks," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(2), pages 1151-1174, August.
    7. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2015. "Efficiency of the banking system in Vietnam under financial liberalization," OSF Preprints qsf6d, Center for Open Science.
    8. Quaranta, Anna Grazia & Raffoni, Anna & Visani, Franco, 2018. "A multidimensional approach to measuring bank branch efficiency," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(2), pages 746-760.
    9. Onorato, Grazia & Pampurini, Francesca & Quaranta, Anna Grazia, 2024. "Lending activity efficiency. A comparison between fintech firms and the banking sector," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Francesca Pampurini & Anna Grazia Quaranta, 2018. "Sustainability and Efficiency of the European Banking Market after the Global Crisis: The Impact of Some Strategic Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-16, June.
    11. Kao, Chiang & Liu, Shiang-Tai, 2014. "Measuring performance improvement of Taiwanese commercial banks under uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 235(3), pages 755-764.
    12. Costa, Davide & Querci, Francesca & Santulli, Rosalia, 2025. "Competition or cooperation? Disentangling the Bank-FinTech interaction through a hybrid literature review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Vincent Charles & Ioannis E. Tsolas & Tatiana Gherman, 2018. "Satisficing data envelopment analysis: a Bayesian approach for peer mining in the banking sector," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 269(1), pages 81-102, October.
    14. Kao, Chiang & Liu, Shiang-Tai, 2019. "Stochastic efficiency measures for production units with correlated data," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 273(1), pages 278-287.
    15. Meryem Duygun Fethi & Mohamed Shaban & Thomas Weyman-Jones, 2009. "Liberalisation, privatisation and the productivity of Egyptian banks: a non-parametric approach," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(7), pages 1143-1163, September.
    16. Otsuka, Akihiro, 2023. "Industrial electricity consumption efficiency and energy policy in Japan," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    17. K. Ravirajan & K.R. Shanmugam, 2021. "Efficiency of commercial banks in India after global financial crises," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(3(628), A), pages 65-82, Autumn.
    18. Miguel SARMIENTOO & Andr�s CEPEDA & Hernando MUTIS & Juan F. P�REZ, 2013. "Nueva Evidencia sobre la Eficiencia de la Banca," Archivos de Economía 10705, Departamento Nacional de Planeación.
    19. Desheng Wu & Zhaoxin Zhou & John Birge, 2011. "Estimation of potential gains from mergers in multiple periods: a comparison of stochastic frontier analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 186(1), pages 357-381, June.
    20. Dairo Estrada & Poldy Osorio, 2004. "Effects of Financial Capital on Colombian Banking Efficiency," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 22(47), pages 162-201, December.

    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:riibaf:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925002831. 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/ribaf .

    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.