Exploring and Discovering Collaboration Patterns Between Iranian Banks and Fintechs

Bank-fintech collaboration has become one of the crucial topics in the study of financial technology and the banking system transformation. Yet, there has been very little research into this phenomenon, so as to establish best practices, because neither bank-fintech collaboration nor associated and relevant characteristics have been evaluated. The purpose of this study is to discover the patterns of bank-fintech collaboration, accordingly, the key question of the research is: What are the collaboration patterns of Iranian banks with fintechs? To answer this question, we have benefited from a theoretically founded and empirically proven taxonomy including cooperation, innovation, banking, and fintechs dimension. In this study, while distributing the questionnaire among 144 senior bank managers, the situation of cooperation between 16 Iranian banks and fintechs was examined. To analyze the data, clustering algorithms, one of the most useful data mining methods, were utilized. The results show: Firstly, the patterns are divided into the five optimal clusters: perfectionist pattern, transformational pattern, impatient pattern, smart pattern, and shareholding pattern. Second, for a variety of reasons, including a low verity of fintech types in the market, most of the banks studied are in the same cluster and have relatively similar behaviors. Third, clustering results indicate that the public or private factor cannot be considered as a distinguishing factor in the relationship between banks and fintechs.