The impact of bank fintech on corporate debt default

This paper investigates the impact of bank fintech on corporate debt default, and the results show that bank fintech can reduce corporate debt default. Specifically, bank fintech can reduce not only the default of debt issued by banks but also the default of debt issued by other creditors, suggesting a spillover effect of bank fintech in reducing firms' debt default. The heterogeneous results indicate that the mitigating effect of bank fintech on debt default is pronounced for small firms, non-state-owned firms, and firms located in regions with a high degree of marketization. The mechanism tests show that bank fintech can reduce corporate debt default through three channels: increasing new corporate borrowing, improving the efficiency of credit resource allocation, and reducing corporate agency costs.