Research background: People who take non-banking loans are primarily perceived as excluded from accessing bank services. The growth of e-commerce and the increasing digitalisation of customer interactions with banks was particularly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic (the first ‘black swan’). These processes have also influenced the rapid growth of the LendTech (LT) sector within FinTech with its digital loans and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services. The war in Ukraine (the second ‘black swan’) has led to an energy crisis, increased inflation, interest rates and credit costs, and reduced credit accessibility. In this context, the following research questions are addressed: Are the LT and banking sectors complementary or substitutive in the area of consumer financing? Does complementarity apply to all customer segments and loan amounts? How does the extent of complementarity or substitutability of the LT sector depend on, and to what extent do changes in the regulatory and macroeconomic environment affect, the interaction between the banking and LT sectors? Purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to identify trends in the LT sector within FinTech in the context of assessing the scale and determinants of current and future complementarity of the non-bank sector and the banking sector in the area of consumer credit in time of black swans. An additional purpose of the article is to estimate revenues from the basic operating activities of companies from the on-line channel. Methods: The research process was multi-stage and the research procedure was structured. Due to the lack of a uniform source of data on LT products and services, the study used many data sources — data from the Credit Information Bureau, a primary nationwide survey on LT users a primary survey of people representing LT's managerial staff. The selection of LTs was carried out according to the concept of the monetary sampling unit. The Horvitz-Thompson estimator with Sen‐Yates‐Grundy variance form was used to estimate net operating income for LT from the online channel in 2021. Findings & value added: The LT companies surveyed state that black swans (the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine) and the current macroeconomic situation have not significantly affected demand for non-banking loans. The reduction in the opportunities for the LT sector as a result of anti-usury regulations will only lead to a shift in consumer demand to the pawnshop sector and the shadow economy, which will be detrimental to consumers. Complementarity between LT and the banking sector is revealed especially in crisis situations, thus limiting the effects of market shock (limited supply of loans offered by banks). In periods of stabilisation, a rather clear division of preferences is noticeable – in the case of seniors and loans for higher amounts, banks dominate, while in the case of lower amounts and in younger age groups, non-bank institutions are more popular. The mechanism by which shrinking banking services are replaced by LT in short-term crises confirms the importance of LT in balancing the Consumer Finance market in the face of unstable periods. From a medium- and long-term perspective, it should be noted that inflation and rising interest rates will increase the scale of credit exclusion in commercial banks, shifting part of the demand to the non-bank sector. These phenomena have an international dimension. Similar observations were made already in 2012 by the CFPB in the USA and the British FTA, when analysing the consumer finance market immediately after the subprime crisis, emphasising the effects of limiting access to bank consumer loans and the resulting growth of the LT market (Gębski, 2013).

The economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak has severely affected the global economy. The ultimate scale of the recession is yet to be determined, but it is likely to be the most dramatic slump since World War II. The impact of the crisis on the financial sector, especially consumer finance, could almost instantly be observed. The article shows how determination and consistency in regulatory actions counteracts the effects of the pandemic crisis for the banking sector and consumer finance. The conducted research has shown the existence of a number of social phenomena typical of this type of global crisis, such as shopping panic, reduced creditworthiness of households related to loss of income, unemployment and increased crime. At the same time, the actions of financial market regulators turned out to be very effective (no negative structural phenomena occurred in the financial market). The accuracy of the selection of instruments and the speed of action limited the social and financial effects of the pandemic, including a loan repayment memorandum, limiting the cost of consumer loans and supporting the banking sector, which will limit the scale of excessive household debt and consumer bankruptcies, and companies were also supported. The research was conducted on the basis of available literature on the subject, market analyses and a review of regulations implemented at the central level and in individual EU member states.

Research background: According to the World Bank (2020), about 60% of adults in developing countries do not use formal financial services. Furthermore, according to the Polish Association of Loan Institutions (2022), about 3 million Poles use loans, most of them obtained online. Among the reasons for more than a decade of growth of interest in the non-bank consumer lending market there are the development of modern technology applications in finance and the establishment of the Lendtech sector. Purpose of the article: The main goal of the paper is to verify the role played by the Lendtech (LT) sector in the consumer credit market in the context of household financial exclusion. The following research questions were asked: Do credit-excluded households take advantage of LT services and, if so, to what extent? What are the behaviours and preferences of those who use consumer credit offered by LT? Do socio-demographic characteristics determine consumer use of loans offered by LT and, if so, what are they? Is the use of loans offered by LT due to credit exclusion or other factors? What action should be taken by participants in the digital consumer loan market interested in its inclusive direction? Methods: The paper uses the following methods: critical analysis of the literature, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney test, and nonparametric regression algorithm: k-nearest neighbors, as well as inductive inference methods. The data used is primary in nature and comes from a nationwide survey, September 2022 (CAWI method) of 1,200 Poles, of whom 200 respondents are Lendtech customers. The quota selection applied made it possible to reflect characteristics corresponding to the population of customers of lending institutions registered in BIK databases. Findings & value added: The article is a pioneering study based on an independent scientific survey, devoted to the Polish LT services market considered in terms of its relationship with one of the types of financial exclusion: credit exclusion. The most important conclusion is that people at risk of credit exclusion find a financing substitute in the LT sector, and thus it plays an important role in reducing financial exclusion, while maintaining the principle of creditworthiness verification.

Research background: BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) is a rapidly growing area of fintech that is changing the way consumers manage their finances and make purchases online. The rationale for undertaking research of the factors underlying the adoption of this payment method is the innovation of the subject matter and the practical importance of the findings for BNPL providers and regulatory institutions. Our research provides a better understanding of consumer needs and behavior, which can lead to more effective marketing strategies and regulatory action to protect consumers, and promote responsible lending and borrowing. In addition, the limited number of investigations on what makes people choose BNPL and the lack of studies relating to the reasons why consumers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) opt for deferred payments also indicate the need for such research. Purpose of the article: To identify and assess the factors that influence consumers' adoption of BNPL payments in Poland. Methods: Critical analysis of the source literature, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Empirical data is from a survey conducted in August 2024 using the CAWI method on a sample of 350 Poles. Findings & value added: The study identifies factors influencing the adoption of BNPL payments by consumers in Poland. These include perceived usefulness (PU), risk (PR), and personal innovation (PI). Perceived trust (PT), however, does not have a statistically significant effect on adoption attitudes (ATT). Similarly, perceived ease of use (PEOU) does not directly influence attitudes (ATT). The paper fills a gap in the literature, as most of the research on BNPL to date has focused on the Anglo-Saxon and Asian markets, while the CEE context has not yet been explored. This is the first research study to present, based on the TAM model, the identification of factors of BNPL adoption by Polish consumers, where the digital payments market is the fastest growing in CEE. Beyond its national relevance, the study offers a new conceptual contribution to global fintech literature by demonstrating how the determinants of BNPL adoption evolve with the digital maturity of a market. Unlike results from Anglo-Saxon and Asian contexts—where perceived ease of use and trust are key drivers—our findings indicate that in post-emerging markets such as Poland, these classical TAM constructs lose explanatory power in favor of perceived usefulness, perceived risk, and personal innovativeness. This maturity-dependent shift in adoption mechanisms can inform cross-country comparisons and theoretical modelling of fintech adoption in diverse economies. Hence, the study provides a transferable analytical framework valuable for international researchers and practitioners seeking to understand how fintech adoption differs between mature, emerging, and developing markets.

The article focuses on the issue of excessive household debt, its causes and implications. Indebtedness and consumer bankruptcy have been a subject of scientific and empirical studies for decades, the author says. The consequences of excessive household debt reach far beyond finance and law and...

The main objective of the article is to identify and evaluate the key determinants of consumer recommendation intention with Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, operationalised through the intention to recommend such services to others through the intention to recommend such services to others. The study investigates the influence of five core constructs: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, and perceived risk. Data are collected from a quota sample of 350 users of deferred payment services, selected in accordance with the demographic profile of BNPL users. The study employs PLS-SEM. The results show that perceived usefulness and perceived trust in the BNPL provider significantly boost recommendation intention. Perceived risk negatively impacts recommendation intention, while perceived ease of use has only a marginal effect. These results contribute to the existing literature by elucidating the behavioural mechanisms underlying BNPL usage and provide actionable insights for financial service providers (...)