Amid concerns that fintech activity isn’t being captured by official statistics, central banks need to expand data collection, recommends a new report from a working group at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The report said that data gaps have developed as financial innovation and digitalization transforms the financial sector.
These gaps have emerged as fintechs introduce novel financial products and introduce new ways to bring existing products and services to a broader market.
“To understand innovation, qualitative information, information on evolving structures, and harmonized time series are needed,” the report said.
To address that need, the report set out a road map for constructing official fintech statistics.
It also made a series of recommendations for central banks. Those recommendations include: redefining economic activity categories to capture fintechs; standardizing methodologies for measuring fintech activities; and leveraging technology to better compile fintech data.
The report also recommended that central banks develop a comprehensive process to continuously monitor and address emerging fintech-related data issues.