Research Article
Marketplaces vs. Banks: Increased Competition in the Financial Market
Sergei Lavrov
,
Sergey Neklyudov*
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
314-319
Received:
17 June 2026
Accepted:
24 August 2026
Published:
4 September 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijefm.20261405.11
Downloads:
Views:
Abstract: Competition between marketplaces and banks is one of the main intrigues in Russian fintech today. The largest platforms are actively building their own financial ecosystems, while traditional banks see this as a threat to their businesses and demand a level playing field. Russian marketplaces (Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex) have created their own banks to reduce transaction costs, control payments within the ecosystem, and retain customers, as well as offer a range of proprietary banking products to their existing client base (primarily consumer loans, overdrafts, guarantees, factoring, deposits, and various transaction services). Largest Russian banks could not ignore the emerging situation. In the end of 2025, they escalated this issue to the Central Bank of Russia and State Duma demanding bank discounts for payments made with cards from "their" marketplaces. Objective of the study– to analyze genesis of the situation, review cases of competition between marketplaces and banks, and suggests trends of further development and potential outcome of this “battle” and its effect to a financial. Scientific novelty of this research is in structuring and systematization of the key points of conflict between marketplaces and banks, and their cause-and-effect relationship analysis. The basis for this conflict lies in the area of unequal regulation for banks and marketplaces, battle for data between them and risk of market fragmentation. This conflict is not unique for Russia, but it is governed in a different way in different parts of the world: from direct administrative restrictions in Chian to liberal approach in US. Adaptation in Russia looks like "Chinese control without the Chinese drama." The state is not eliminating fintech marketplaces (like China), but integrating them into a general system of strict banking supervision with an "open architecture."
Abstract: Competition between marketplaces and banks is one of the main intrigues in Russian fintech today. The largest platforms are actively building their own financial ecosystems, while traditional banks see this as a threat to their businesses and demand a level playing field. Russian marketplaces (Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex) have created their own banks...
Show More
Research Article
Regional Digital Trade Rules and Digital Service Exports
Junbo Zhao*
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
320-328
Received:
15 July 2026
Accepted:
25 August 2026
Published:
4 September 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijefm.20261405.12
Downloads:
Views:
Abstract: This study selected 44 countries worldwide as the research sample from 2005 to 2021. Based on the TAPED database, the depth index of regional digital trade rules was quantified, and an empirical test was conducted to examine the impact effect of regional digital trade rules on bilateral digital service exports. The study found that the improvement of the depth of regional digital trade rules significantly promoted the scale of bilateral digital service trade exports, and this conclusion remained valid after a series of robustness tests. From the perspective of the impact path, this promoting effect was mainly achieved through export diversification. Heterogeneity analysis revealed that the data-related clauses, market access clauses, and trade promotion clauses had the most significant trade-promoting effect on digital services; compared with capital-intensive sectors, regional digital trade rules had a more significant trade-creation effect on technology-intensive sectors, while they had a certain inhibitory effect on knowledge-intensive sectors. This study is of great significance for all countries to promote digital economic development through institutional openness and to facilitate the transformation of international digital trade rules from fragmented bargaining to inclusive governance.
Abstract: This study selected 44 countries worldwide as the research sample from 2005 to 2021. Based on the TAPED database, the depth index of regional digital trade rules was quantified, and an empirical test was conducted to examine the impact effect of regional digital trade rules on bilateral digital service exports. The study found that the improvement ...
Show More