IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jofsma/v30y2025i3d10.1057_s41264-025-00315-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ethics in FinTech: a bibliometric analysis of research trends and key contributions

Author

Listed:
  • José Moleiro Martins

    (ISCAL-Polytechnic University of Lisbon
    Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL))

  • Muhammad Asif

    (University of Education)

  • Rui Dantas

    (ISEL-Polytechnic University of Lisbon)

  • Muhammad Farrukh Shahzad

    (Beijing University of Technology)

  • Muhammad Shahbaz

    (University of Education)

Abstract

This study aims to analyze and synthesize current research on ethics in FinTech, focusing on key themes, influential contributors, and ethical challenges from 2015 to 2024. This study examined data extracted from Web of Science and Scopus using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny to identify journal articles related to ethics in FinTech. The analysis focused on key themes, leading countries, and influential journals using bibliographic coupling, co-authorship, and co-occurrence of keywords techniques for analysis. Findings reveal significant research growth and focus on cybersecurity, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and financial exclusion in ethics-related FinTech literature. Leading countries and journals driving discourse reflect global collaboration and emphasize ethical guidelines in FinTech innovation. This study contributes original insights by synthesizing current research trends and key contributions in ethics within the FinTech domain. It offers a comprehensive analysis of influential countries and journals, highlighting emerging themes and ethical challenges shaping the evolving landscape of FinTech.

Suggested Citation

  • José Moleiro Martins & Muhammad Asif & Rui Dantas & Muhammad Farrukh Shahzad & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2025. "Ethics in FinTech: a bibliometric analysis of research trends and key contributions," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(3), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jofsma:v:30:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1057_s41264-025-00315-w
    DOI: 10.1057/s41264-025-00315-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41264-025-00315-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41264-025-00315-w?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. Donthu, Naveen & Kumar, Satish & Mukherjee, Debmalya & Pandey, Nitesh & Lim, Weng Marc, 2021. "How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 285-296.
    2. Aria, Massimo & Cuccurullo, Corrado, 2017. "bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 959-975.
    3. Barry Eichengreen, 2023. "Financial regulation in the age of the platform economy," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(1), pages 40-50, March.
    4. Weishu Liu, 2020. "Accuracy of funding information in Scopus: a comparative case study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(1), pages 803-811, July.
    5. Hani Alshahrani & Noman Islam & Darakhshan Syed & Adel Sulaiman & Mana Saleh Al Reshan & Khairan Rajab & Asadullah Shaikh & Jaweed Shuja-Uddin & Aadar Soomro, 2023. "Sustainability in Blockchain: A Systematic Literature Review on Scalability and Power Consumption Issues," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-24, February.
    6. Michal Brzezinski, 2015. "Power laws in citation distributions: evidence from Scopus," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(1), pages 213-228, April.
    7. Philippe Mongeon & Adèle Paul-Hus, 2016. "The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: a comparative analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(1), pages 213-228, January.
    8. Jasman Tuyon & Okey Peter Onyia & Aidi Ahmi & Chia-Hsing Huang, 2023. "Sustainable financial services: reflection and future perspectives," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(4), pages 664-690, December.
    9. Lokanath Mishra & Vaibhav Kaushik, 2023. "Application of blockchain in dealing with sustainability issues and challenges of financial sector," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 1318-1333, July.
    10. Rey-Martí, Andrea & Ribeiro-Soriano, Domingo & Palacios-Marqués, Daniel, 2016. "A bibliometric analysis of social entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1651-1655.
    11. James Lappeman & Siddeeqah Marlie & Tamryn Johnson & Sloane Poggenpoel, 2023. "Trust and digital privacy: willingness to disclose personal information to banking chatbot services," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(2), pages 337-357, June.
    12. Gregor Dorfleitner & Lars Hornuf & Julia Kreppmeier, 2023. "Promise not fulfilled: FinTech, data privacy, and the GDPR," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-29, December.
    13. Walter G. Johnson, 2023. "Caught in quicksand? Compliance and legitimacy challenges in using regulatory sandboxes to manage emerging technologies," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 709-725, July.
    14. Anna Mazzi & Sara Toniolo & Alessandro Manzardo & Jingzheng Ren & Antonio Scipioni, 2016. "Exploring the Direction on the Environmental and Business Performance Relationship at the Firm Level. Lessons from a Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-25, November.
    15. Marta Ciarko & Greta Poszwa & Agnieszka Paluch-Dybek & Mustafa Caner Timur, 2023. "Cryptocurrencies as the Future of Money: Theoretical Aspects, Blockchain Technology and Origins of Cryptocurrencies," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 6(3), pages 70-93, September.
    16. Maoxi Tian & Rim El Khoury & Nohade Nasrallah & Muneer M. Alshater, 2024. "Assessing systemic risk spillovers from FinTech to China’s financial system," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(8), pages 803-826, May.
    17. Jiaguo Liu & Huimin Zhang & Lu Zhen, 2023. "Blockchain technology in maritime supply chains: applications, architecture and challenges," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(11), pages 3547-3563, June.
    18. Hasan, Mohammad Maruf & Hasan, Md Enamul & Ghosh, Tusher, 2024. "Transforming developing economies by shifting paradigms beyond natural resources. The fintech and social dynamics for sustainable mineral policy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. Ansar,Saniya & Klapper,Leora & Singer,Dorothe, 2023. "The Importance of Financial Education for the Effective Use of Formal Financial Services," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10345, The World Bank.
    20. Nees Jan van Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2009. "How to normalize cooccurrence data? An analysis of some well‐known similarity measures," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 60(8), pages 1635-1651, August.
    21. Tobias Guggenberger & Benjamin Schellinger & Victor Wachter & Nils Urbach, 2024. "Kickstarting blockchain: designing blockchain-based tokens for equity crowdfunding," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 239-273, March.
    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. Shome, Samik & Hassan, M. Kabir & Verma, Sushma & Panigrahi, Tushar Ranjan, 2023. "Impact investment for sustainable development: A bibliometric analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 770-800.
    2. Dušan Nikolić & Dragan Ivanović & Lidija Ivanović, 2024. "An open-source tool for merging data from multiple citation databases," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4573-4595, July.
    3. Karen Castañeda & Omar Sánchez & Rodrigo F. Herrera & Guillermo Mejía, 2022. "Highway Planning Trends: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-33, May.
    4. Areeba Khan & Saboohi Nasim, 2025. "Mapping research on the subjective well-being of knowledge workers: a systematic enquiry deploying bibliometrics," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 75(1), pages 911-954, February.
    5. Şehide Kilinc, 2025. "Research Trends on Political Participation of School Aged Children and Adolescents: Bibliometric Mapping and Content Analysis," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 18(2), pages 753-787, April.
    6. Oğuzhan İrengün, 2025. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Social Entrepreneurship Research: Trends, Patterns, and Future Directions," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 75(1), pages 222-245, July.
    7. Saumyaranjan Sahoo & Satish Kumar & Uthayasankar Sivarajah & Weng Marc Lim & J. Christopher Westland & Ashwani Kumar, 2024. "Blockchain for sustainable supply chain management: trends and ways forward," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1563-1618, September.
    8. Adriana Ana Maria Davidescu & Margareta-Stela Florescu & Liviu Cosmin Mosora & Mihaela Hrisanta Mosora & Eduard Mihai Manta, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Publications of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies in Time of Pandemics: Implications for Teachers’ Professional Publishing Activity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-36, July.
    9. Rakshith Bhandary & Sandeep S. Shenoy & Ankitha Shetty & Adithya D. Shetty, 2024. "Education loan repayment: a systematic literature review," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(4), pages 1365-1376, December.
    10. Bakır, Mahmut & Özdemir, Emircan & Akan, Şahap & Atalık, Özlem, 2022. "A bibliometric analysis of airport service quality," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    11. Umer Aziz & Tariq Ahmad Lone & Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, 2025. "Exploring the triad: intellectual capital, performance, and sustainability through bibliometric analysis," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 5(8), pages 1-30, August.
    12. Jin Su & Mo Wang & Mohd Adib Mohammad Razi & Norlida Mohd Dom & Noralfishah Sulaiman & Lai-Wai Tan, 2023. "A Bibliometric Review of Nature-Based Solutions on Urban Stormwater Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, April.
    13. Bhavna Thawani & Tushar Panigrahi & Meena Bhatia, 2024. "Eleven years of integrated reporting: a bibliometric analysis," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(4), pages 666-684, December.
    14. Valentina Della Corte & Giovanna Del Gaudio & Fabiana Sepe & Fabiana Sciarelli, 2019. "Sustainable Tourism in the Open Innovation Realm: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Carlo Dindorf & Eva Bartaguiz & Freya Gassmann & Michael Fröhlich, 2022. "Conceptual Structure and Current Trends in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning Research in Sports: A Bibliometric Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-23, December.
    16. Cathaysa Martín-Blanco & Montserrat Zamorano & Carmen Lizárraga & Valentin Molina-Moreno, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals: Achievements and Expectations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-25, December.
    17. Qian Wang & Shixian Luo & Jiao Zhang & Katsunori Furuya, 2022. "Increased Attention to Smart Development in Rural Areas: A Scientometric Analysis of Smart Village Research," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-28, August.
    18. Shubham Singhania & Jagvinder Singh & Deepti Aggrawal, 2023. "Gender diversity on board and corporate sustainability: a quantitative review based on bibliometric mapping," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 14(1), pages 267-286, February.
    19. Alejandro Lorenzo-Lledó & Gonzalo Lorenzo Lledó & Asunción Lledó & Elena Pérez-Vázquez, 2024. "Inclusive education at university: a scientific mapping analysis," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 1603-1627, April.
    20. Cristina Mele & Jaqueline Pels & Maria Spano & Irene Bernardo, 2023. "Emergent understandings of the market," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2023(1), pages 1-25, March.

    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:pal:jofsma:v:30:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1057_s41264-025-00315-w. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    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.