The growth of financial institutions is typically considered a factor that contributes to economic expansion. Financial institutions’ use of financial technology (FinTech) has resulted in changes in the delivery of financial services, subsequently affecting economic growth. However, the pandemic disrupted the demand and supply of goods worldwide, which has had a detrimental impact on the economy. It is worth investigating whether the global economic slump created by the pandemic have a beneficial influence on the national economy because of the introduction of innovative technologies. Using 778 country-year observations from 193 countries between 2018 and 2021, this study examines and finds that the positive impact of FinTech on economic growth is more pronounced during the pandemic. Further analysis shows that this association holds only in countries with high Internet usage, suggesting that the incremental impact of FinTech on economic growth during the pandemic depends on the extent of local Internet usage. Overall, our findings suggest that FinTech plays an important role in reducing the severity of the pandemic’s subsequent economic impact.

金融机构的增长通常被认为是促进经济扩张的一个因素。金融机构对金融科技（FinTech）的使用导致金融服务的提供方式发生变化，进而影响经济增长。然而，疫情扰乱了全球商品的供需，对经济产生了不利影响。疫情造成的全球经济衰退是否会因为创新技术的引入而对国民经济产生有利影响，值得探讨。本研究利用 2018 年至 2021 年间 193 个国家的 778 个国家/地区的观察结果发现，金融科技对经济增长的积极影响在疫情期间更为明显。进一步分析表明，这种关联仅在互联网使用率高的国家成立，这表明金融科技对大流行期间经济增长的增量影响取决于当地互联网使用的程度。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，金融科技在减轻疫情后续经济影响的严重性方面发挥着重要作用。