Development of the Digital Financial Competitiveness Evaluation Index for Small and Medium Commercial Banks

This post introduces the Digital Financial Competitiveness Evaluation Index for Small and Medium Commercial Banks, a project completed in August 2024 after four years of research and data analysis.

Overview

The project is part of a broader initiative to assess the financial technology competitiveness of small and medium-sized banks in China. The evaluation index was developed around the following key dimensions:

• Financial technology strategy implementation
• Organizational structure
• Information technology governance and risk
• Technology operations and services

Data and Methodology

We collected data from the annual reports of 541 Chinese banks from 2015 to 2023, including information on organizational structure, financial data, patents, violations, and software copyrights. We then used machine learning and text analysis methods to build a multi-dimensional model for evaluating financial technology competitiveness.

Presentation and Impact

On December 14, 2024, I had the honor of presenting this evaluation index at the China Financial Forum. Experts have noted that the index is highly aligned with China’s innovation-driven development strategy and serves as a valuable tool for guiding small and medium-sized banks in their market positioning and development strategies.

Key Contributions

• Development of a comprehensive evaluation model for financial technology competitiveness.
• Data collection and analysis from 541 Chinese banks.
• Presenting the evaluation index at a leading financial forum, contributing to policy discussion and industry strategy.