Financial technology (Fintech) combines innovative business models and computer technology to improve financial service. Since its emergence, it brings a wave of creative destruction that substantially changes the landscape of finance and have significant implications for the economy.
For example, the sudden rise of cryptocurrencies (eg Bitcoin), which compete with the fiat currencies and disrupt the existing payment system, poses great challenges to central banks and commercial banks.
Cardiff Fintech Research Group (CFRG) consists of 13 full-time academics at Cardiff University across the areas of finance, investments, quantitative methods and financial mathematics. Our Research Group encompasses several PhD students who are completing their doctoral research in areas related to Fintech.
Since its inception, CFRG has engaged in innovative and industrially relevant research and provided expertise to public and private sectors in Wales and beyond. Through links with Fintech Wales, CFRG has been involved in several projects and initiatives to promote Fintech innovations and solutions in Wales.
The Cardiff University Bitcoin Database or CUBID – created by Dr Hossein Jahanshahloo – is the first platform of its kind to allow users to access structured Bitcoin network data without advanced IT skills.
In Spring 2020, CFRG co-hosted with Fintech Wales the First Fintech Conference in Wales which attracted a large number of participants and featured speakers from the government, academia, and companies such as Microsoft. Please see the FinTech Wales AI for FinTech event on YouTube.
Aims
- Raise Cardiff Business School’s reputation as a national and international centre for Fintech research.
- Facilitate cross-disciplinary Fintech research among members of the research group and across sections and schools.
- Engage in innovative and industrially relevant research and provide our expertise to public and private sectors in Wales and beyond.
Research
Our members’ research interests in Fintech include:
- Cryptocurrencies
- Blockchain
- Banking (eg digital banking, open banking)
- Insurance (insuretech)
- Personal Finance (eg robo-advisors)
- Payments (digital payment systems)
- Lending (crowdfunding, P2P lending etc.)
- Capital Markets (algorithmic and high frequency trading)
- Wealth Management
- Machine Learning and AI
- Computer-assisted Textual Analysis
Meet the team
Director
Co-Directors
Academic staff
Professor Yingli Wang
Pro-Dean for Research, Impact and InnovationProfessor in Logistics and Operations Management
Postgraduate students
Associated staff
- Dr Arash Aloosh, Assistant Professor of Finance at NEOMA Business School
- Dr Oriol Caudevilla, Fintech Advisor and Mentor
- Dr Imtiaz Khan, Reader in Data Science, Cardiff Metropolitan University
- Professor Andrew Urquhart, Professor of Finance, ICMA Centre, University of Reading
- Professor Xian Xu, Fudan University, China
- Dr Larisa Yarovaya, Associate Professor in Finance, University of Southampton
- Dr Diego Bermudez, University of Exeter
Publications
- Wang, Y. and Pettit, S. eds. 2022. Digital supply chain transformation: emerging technologies for sustainable growth. Cardiff: Cardiff University Press. (10.18573/book8)
- Bullock, S. et al., 2024. Artificial intelligence for collective intelligence: A national-scale research strategy. Knowledge Engineering Review 39 e10. (10.1017/S0269888924000110)
- Cheema, A. , Ding, W. and Wang, Q. 2023. The cross-section of January effect. Journal of Asset Management 24 , pp.513-530. (10.1057/s41260-023-00324-1)
- Cheema, A. K. , Eshraghi, A. and Wang, Q. 2023. Macroeconomic news and price synchronicity. Journal of Empirical Finance 73 , pp.390-412. (10.1016/j.jempfin.2023.08.002)
- Chen, J. et al. 2023. Does Smile help detect the UK’s price leadership change after MiFID?. International Review of Economics and Finance 84 , pp.765-769. (10.1016/j.iref.2022.11.033)
- Chen, J. et al. 2022. Does the world smile together? A network analysis of global index option implied volatilities. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money 77 101497. (10.1016/j.intfin.2021.101497)
- Danbolt, J. , Eshraghi, A. and Lukas, M. 2022. Investment transparency and the disposition effect. European Financial Management 28 (3), pp.834-864. (10.1111/eufm.12329)
- Ding, W. et al., 2023. Technical analysis as a sentiment barometer and the cross-section of stock returns. Quantitative Finance 23 (11), pp.1617-1636. (10.1080/14697688.2023.2244991)
- Eshraghi, A. 2023. Approaches to cryptocurrency valuation. In: Baker, H. K. et al., The Emerald Handbook on Cryptoassets: Investment Opportunities and Challenges. Emerald. , pp.171-184. (10.1108/978-1-80455-320-620221012)
- Fang, Y. et al., 2024. An investigation of the co-movement between spot and futures prices for Chinese agricultural commodities. Journal of Risk and Financial Management 17 (7) 299. (https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm17070299)
- Guan, B. , Mazouz, K. and Xu, Y. 2024. Asymmetric volatility spillover between crude oil and other asset markets. Energy Economics 130 107305. (10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107305)
- Guan, B. et al. 2022. Forecasting tourism growth with state-dependent models. Annals of Tourism Research 94 103385. (10.1016/j.annals.2022.103385)
- Guo, Y. et al., 2024. From text to treasure: the predictive superiority of a FinTech index in stock market returns. European Journal of Finance (10.1080/1351847X.2024.2399773)
- Han, Q. et al., 2022. Reexamining the impact of closing call auction on market quality: A natural experiment from the Shanghai stock exchange. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 74 101821. (10.1016/j.pacfin.2022.101821)
- Han, X. et al., 2022. Persistence of investor sentiment and market mispricing. Financial Review 57 (3), pp.617-640. (10.1111/fire.12301)
- Huang, W. and Wang, Y. 2024. Identifying price bubbles in global carbon markets: Evidence from the SADF test, GSADF test and LPPLS method. Energy Economics 134 107626. (10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107626)
- Iftikhar, A. et al. 2023. The impact of supply chain complexities on supply chain resilience: the mediating effect of big data analytics. Production Planning and Control 34 (16), pp.1562-1582. (10.1080/09537287.2022.2032450)
- Khashanah, K. et al., 2025. A new method for jump detection: Analysis of jumps in S&P 500 financial index. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series C 74 (5), pp.1321-1339. (10.1093/jrsssc/qlaf025)
- Kim, D. et al., 2025. Bitcoin as a legal tender. Asia-Pacific Financial Markets 32 , pp.1175-1188. (10.1007/s10690-024-09499-y)
- Leonenko, N. , Liu, A. and Shchestyuk, N. 2025. Student models for a risky asset with dependence: Option pricing and Greeks. Austrian Journal of Statistics 54 (1), pp.138-165. (10.17713/ajs.v54i1.1952)
- Lewis-Cheetham, J. et al. 2024. The impact of transaction costs on forecast-based trading strategy performance. Presented at: CIFEr 2024: IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence for Financial Engineering and Economics Hoboken, New Jersey, USA 22-23 October 2024. Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence for Financial Engineering and Economics. IEEE. , pp.1-8. (10.1109/CIFEr62890.2024.10772810)
- Li, C. et al. 2025. An overview of flood evacuation planning: Models, methods, and future directions. Journal of Hydrology 656 133026. (10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.133026)
- Li, Q. et al. 2023. The application of blockchain-enabled material passports for circular supply chains. Presented at: 8th International Conference on New Business Models Maastricht, the Netherlands 21-23 June 2023. New Business Models Conference Proceedings. Maastricht University Press
- Li, Q. and Wang, Y. 2022. Blockchain's role in supporting circular supply chains in the built environment. Presented at: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain Melbourne, Australia 6-8 December 2021. 2021 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain). IEEE. , pp.578-583. (10.1109/Blockchain53845.2021.00087)
- Liang, W. , Eshraghi, A. and Wang, Q. 2026. Aggregate investment, economic dynamics, and predictability in the REIT market. Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics (10.1007/s11146-025-10029-4)
- Liu, A. et al. 2023. Trading patterns in the Bitcoin market. European Journal of Finance (10.1080/1351847X.2023.2241883)
- Lucey, B. M. et al., 2022. The cryptocurrency uncertainty index. Finance Research Letters 45 102147. (10.1016/j.frl.2021.102147)
- Ma, F. et al., 2025. Dissecting climate change risk and financial market instability: Implications for ecological risk management. Risk Analysis 45 (3), pp.496-522. (10.1111/risa.14265)
- Molyneux, P. et al., 2023. Bank funding constraints and stock liquidity. European Journal of Finance 29 (1), pp.1-16. (10.1080/1351847X.2022.2098046)
- Nemlioglu, I. , Ding, W. and Wang, Q. 2024. Crypto investing: a new frontier of gambling and addiction?. In: Strong, C. , Martin, B. and Chrysochou, P. eds. Advances in Blockchain Research and Cryptocurrency Behaviour. De Gruyter. , pp.53-66. (10.1515/9783110981551-004)
- Pettit, S. , Wang, Y. and Beresford, A. 2022. Digitalisation in logistics and supply chains. Presented at: 12th International Conference on Logistics and Transport Krabi, Thailand 17-19 November 2022.
- Pettit, S. , Wang, Y. and Beresford, A. 2022. The impact of digitalisation on contemporary and future logistics. In: MacCarthy, B. and Ivanov, D. eds. The Digital Supply Chain. Elsevier. , pp.111-125. (10.1016/B978-0-323-91614-1.00007-1)
- Riedl, C. et al., 2025. The potential and challenges of AI for collective intelligence. Collective Intelligence 4 1. (10.1177/26339137241308821)
- Sarkis, J. , Bai, C. and Wang, Y. 2025. Multistakeholder production and logistics management through blockchain technology applications [Editorial]. International Journal of Production Research 63 (14), pp.5031-5042. (10.1080/00207543.2025.2511567)
- Shahaab, A. et al., 2023. Public service operational efficiency and blockchain - A case study of Companies House, UK. Government Information Quarterly 40 (1) 101759. (10.1016/j.giq.2022.101759)
- Shin, S. et al. 2022. A systematic literature review of Blockchain application in maritime supply chain: the TOE framework. Presented at: International Association of Maritime Economists Conference 2022 Busan, Korea 14-16 September 2022.
- Shin, S. et al. 2024. Blockchain application in maritime supply chain: a systematic literature review and conceptual framework. Maritime Policy & Management 51 (6), pp.1062-1095. (10.1080/03088839.2023.2234896)
- Shin, S. et al. 2023. Supply chain integration and IT competency of maritime organisations: The adoption of blockchain technology. Presented at: Logistics Research Network Conference 2023 6-8 September.
- Wang, Y. and Khan, I. 2022. From mining to fishing – how blockchain is addressing different challenges of supply chain in Asia. [Online].EastAsiaForum.org: Australian National University. Available at: https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/05/12/from-mining-to-fishing-how-blockchain-is-addressing-different-challenges-of-supply-chain-in-asia/.
- Wang, Y. and Pettit, S. 2022. A primer on digital supply chain transformation. In: Wang, Y. and Pettit, S. eds. Digital Supply Chain Transformation: Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Growth. Cardiff: Cardiff University Press. , pp.121-139. (10.18573/book8.g)
- Wang, Y. and Pettit, S. 2022. Falling behind or riding the waves?: Building future supply chains with emerging technologies. In: Wang, Y. and Pettit, S. eds. Digital Supply Chain Transformation: Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Growth. Cardiff: Cardiff University Press. , pp.1-21. (10.18573/book8.a)
- Wang, Y. , Skeete, J. and Owusu, G. 2022. Understanding the implications of artificial intelligence on field service operations: a case study of BT. Production Planning and Control 33 (16), pp.1591-1607. (10.1080/09537287.2021.1882694)
- Wang, Y. 2022. Volatility spillovers across NFTs news attention and financial markets. International Review of Financial Analysis 83 102313. (10.1016/j.irfa.2022.102313)
- Wang, Y. et al. 2022. Bubbles all the way down? Detecting and date-stamping bubble behaviours in NFT and DeFi markets. Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies 20 (4), pp.415-436. (10.1080/14765284.2022.2138161)
- Wang, Y. et al. 2022. An index of cryptocurrency environmental attention (ICEA). China Finance Review International 12 (3), pp.378-414. (10.1108/CFRI-09-2021-0191)
- Wang, Y. et al. 2022. The Effects of Central Bank Digital Currencies News on Financial Markets. Technological forecasting and social change 180 121715. (10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121715)
- Wang, Y. et al. 2023. Return spillover analysis across central bank digital currency attention and cryptocurrency markets. Research in International Business and Finance 64 101896. (10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.101896)
- Wang, Y. et al. 2025. Trust over toasts: The role of alcohol culture in firms’ access to trade credit. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 237 107200. (10.1016/j.jebo.2025.107200)
- Wei, Y. et al., 2024. Market volatilities vs oil shocks: Which dominate the relative performance of green bonds?. Energy Economics 136 107709. (10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107709)
- Wei, Y. et al., 2023. Cryptocurrency uncertainty and volatility forecasting of precious metal futures markets. Journal of Commodity Markets 29 100305. (10.1016/j.jcomm.2022.100305)
- Wei, Y. et al., 2023. Alarming contagion effects: the dangerous ripple effect of extreme price spillovers across crude oil, carbon emission allowance, and agriculture futures markets. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money 88 101821. (10.1016/j.intfin.2023.101821)
- Wilson, S. et al., 2024. Blockchain-enabled provenance tracking for sustainable material reuse in construction supply chains. Future Internet 16 (4) 135. (10.3390/fi16040135)
- Wu, F. et al. 2024. Analysing network dynamics: The contagion effects of SVB's collapse on the US tech industry. Journal of Risk and Financial Management 17 (10) 427. (10.3390/jrfm17100427)
- Xiang, C. and Wang, Y. 2023. Facilitating material passport with blockchain in construction supply chains. Presented at: Logistics Research Network Conference Edinburgh, UK 6-8 September 2023.
- Xu, Y. et al. 2024. Macroeconomic shocks and volatility spillovers between stock, bond, gold and crude oil markets. Energy Economics 136 107750. (10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107750)
- Yao, D. et al., 2025. Optimal dividend and scale of business strategies with reinsurance and premium pricing for insurance company. European Journal of Operational Research 328 (2), pp.694-703. (10.1016/j.ejor.2025.07.039)
- Zhang, D. , Wang, C. and Wang, Y. 2024. Unveiling the critical nexus: Volatility of crude oil future prices and trade partner’s cash holding behavior in the face of the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Energy Economics 132 107413. (10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107413)
- Zhang, D. et al., 2024. Technological innovation and its influence on energy risk management: Unpacking China’s energy consumption structure optimization amidst climate change. Energy Economics 131 107321. (10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107321)
- Zhang, J. et al., 2024. Cryptocurrency price bubble detection using log-periodic power law model and wavelet analysis. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 71 , pp.11796-1812. (10.1109/TEM.2024.3427647)
- Zhang, J. , Wen, J. and Chen, J. 2023. Modelling market fluctuations under investor sentiment with a Hawkes-contact process. The European Journal of Finance 29 (1), pp.17-32. (10.1080/1351847X.2021.1957699)
Events
The 2nd International Cardiff Fintech Conference - Call for Papers
The Cardiff Fintech Research Group is pleased to announce its 2nd International Fintech Conference taking place in person at Cardiff Business School on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 November 2023.
If this document cannot be read by your assistive software, you can request an accessible version by emailing web@cardiff.ac.uk. Please include the assistive tools you use and the format you require.
Past events
Cardiff Fintech Conference 2022
Cardiff, UK, 12 October 2022
The Cardiff Fintech Research Group is pleased to announce its inaugural fintech conference taking place in person at Cardiff Business School on Wednesday 12 October 2022.
The objective of this conference is to discuss cutting-edge fintech research that offers insights into the opportunities and challenges for fintech development. The Conference will feature a small number of high-quality papers to allow for in-depth presentations and discussions. The Conference will also feature a practitioner session.
We welcome submissions from all areas of financial technology, including but not limited to big data, blockchain and cryptoassets, computer-assisted textual analysis, crowd funding, digital banking, digital wealth management, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome.
Keynote Speakers
Professor Lin William Cong is the Rudd Family Professor of Management at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He is also the founding faculty director for the FinTech Initiative at Cornell and a research associate at NBER. Professor Cong serves as Editor (finance department) of Management Science, and Associate Editor of Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Journal of Banking and Finance.
Professor Brian Lucey is Professor of Finance at Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, and Editor-in-Chief of International Review of Financial Analysis among various other former and current editorial roles. Professor Lucey has published extensively on a wide range of finance topics including cryptoassets, commodities and sustainable finance, and is regularly cited in the media.
Journal Affiliations
Presenters at the workshop are welcome to contribute to a special issue of The European Journal of Finance entitled “Fintech and Risk”, submission deadline 1 Nov 2022. The guest editors for the special issue are Steve Yang (Stevens Institute of Technology, USA), Arman Eshraghi (Cardiff, UK) and Maggie Chen (Cardiff, UK).
Selected conference papers may be also invited for submission to the following journals:
- Finance Research Letters
- Global Finance Journal
- International Review of Economics and Finance
- International Review of Financial Analysis
Conference Chairs
- Arman Eshraghi, Cardiff Business School
- Qingwei Wang, Cardiff Business School
Programme Committee
- Hossein Jahanshahloo, Cardiff Business School
- Yingli Wang, Cardiff Business School
- Maggie Chen, School of Mathematics, Cardiff University
- Anqi Liu, School of Mathematics, Cardiff University
- Yuhua Li, School of Computer Science, Cardiff University
Our members have contributed to the following events:
- Keynote, We Need to Talk About Bitcoin, Wales Tech Week
- Keynote, ‘AI and the Future of Finance’ Summit, University of Waikato
- Panel talk, Wealth Management in the Digital Age, Future of Finance, Virtual
- TEDx Talk, Fintech and the Future of Finance, Cardiff University
- Panel talk, ESRC Sparking Impact Workshop on Blockchain Technology, Cardiff
- Panel talk, CityUK National Conference in partnership with PwC, Cardiff
- ‘Technology in Manufacturing’ Consultation, Cardiff
- Collaboration with industrial partners on a Masterclass on blockchain at RICS Digital Built Environment Conference 2019 (London)
- Webinar on blockchain’s role in the circular economy for the World Built Environment Forum
- Research Foresight Report for Government Office for Science on the impact of Emerging Technologies on Future Mobility
- White Paper on Blockchain for Supply Chains for World Economic Forum