The knowledge base of financial technology: a bibliometric analysis review

Globally, researchers and academicians have put a significant effort into exploring the knowledge base of financial technology (fintech) as an important strategy for development and economic transformation. This study aimed to evaluate the global research trend in fintech using a bibliometric analysis review. The bibliometric review materials were extracted from the Scopus database. The review followed the PRISMA approach in the sampling procedure. Using PRISMA, 382 papers were extracted for analysis. Then, a VOSviewer program was used to visualize the performance analysis and scientific mapping of bibliometric analysis. The analysis focused on the growth trend of publications, influential authors and documents, top contributing countries, journals, and themes associated with fintech. A series of indicators, such as productivity, citations, co-citations, co-authorship, and co-occurrence analysis, were conducted. The study found that in the Scopus database, papers related to fintech were first published in 2014. Also, the findings revealed that the fintech reached its peak in 2021, after which it started to decline. Meanwhile, the study showed that the keywords growth trend of fintech is periodised from 2014 to 2018 and from 2019 to 2022 to identify the themes that have been the most and least studied. Similarly, the findings revealed that the most productive countries in fintech research are developed countries, including the USA, China, and the UK. Thus, this study can provide insight to academicians and researchers on the growth trend of fintech in the realm of financial technology using advanced software in bibliometric review.