Our research

Interdisciplinary, impactful, applied research

The Macquarie University FinTech and Banking Research Centre’s research priorities are organised into four targeted streams, each addressing a critical area of innovation and policy in FinTech and banking.

These streams reflect our interdisciplinary approach and commitment to producing impactful, applied research.

Learn more about the streams and their associated projects, below.

1. Digital infrastructure and platforms

We develop next-generation banking systems that provide scalable, efficient, and secure foundations for financial services. Our work ensures digital platforms can support long-term growth and innovation.

• Creating Sustainability-Oriented FinTech Lending Platforms in Australia (ARC Linkage, 2021–2025): Builds lending platforms that integrate environmental and consumer data to improve credit assessments.
• Ethical Enterprise Representations for Personalised Sustainable Finance (ARC Linkage, 2024–2026): Develops enterprise-level ESG data systems and digital tools to enable more transparent and efficient banking platforms.
• Sustainable Finance Research Brief: Impact Premiums (DFCRC, 2024): Lays the groundwork for a digital marketplace (Impact Exchange) to channel capital into high-impact firms.

2. Banking, data privacy and financial data science

This theme applies AI and big data to improve decision-making in finance while safeguarding privacy. We focus on predictive analytics, risk assessment, and building secure digital banking systems.

• Intelligent Risk Assessment for Financial Services (Prospa, 2021–2025): Uses AI and big data to improve lending risk assessment and decision-making.
• Consumer Data Privacy Risk Analysis in the Open Banking Era (ARC Discovery, 2025–2027): Develops models for quantifying and mitigating data privacy risks in digital banking systems.
• Real-Time Monitoring of Social Inequality and Policy Evaluation (e61 Institute, 2023–2025): Applies machine learning to household transaction data to build real-time financial distress and inequality indicators.

3. Consumer decision-making and financial wellbeing

We study how people make financial decisions and design tools to improve their outcomes. From climate resilience to sustainable investing, our research ensures financial technologies support household wellbeing.

• Educating Retail Investors for Impact Investing (Futu, 2022–2024): Tests education and disclosure strategies to encourage retail investors’ participation in sustainable investing.
• Unlocking the Participation Puzzle: Stock Market Entry (Webull, 2024–2025): Field experiment to understand and reduce barriers to stock market participation.
• Empowering Climate Resilience: A Digital Finance Platform for Central Tablelands Communities (Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, 2024–2025): Provides digital literacy and financial tools to help rural households access recovery finance.
• Climate Change Risks: Resiliency of Rural Australian Households (NSW DPHI, 2022–2023): Investigates how vulnerable households make financial decisions under climate risks.

4. Banking regulation, governance and compliance

We analyse how financial innovations interact with regulation and governance frameworks. Our projects help align innovation with responsibility, ensuring trust and compliance in digital finance.

• Digital Finance Meets Sustainability: Shareholder Activism, ESG Rating Divergence, and Greenwashing Detection (DFCRC, 2024–2026): Examines how governance and disclosure frameworks affect ESG outcomes.
• The Impact of Green Finance on Firm Performance and the Role of Banks in Green Transformation (Createdifier, 2024–2025): Analyses how banks’ green lending policies support firm compliance with environmental regulations.