A evolução das fintechs e seu papel no mercado de crédito brasileiro entre 2014 e 2025

Abstract

This study analyzes the evolution of credit fintechs in Brazil between 2014 and 2025 and their role in relation to traditional financial institutions. The research reviews the literature about finance, innovation, fintechs, and is based on the Brazilian context of high interest rates, banking concentration and regulatory changes promoted by the Central Bank of Brazil, factors that favored the entry of new financial agents operating through digital platforms. The aim of the study is to examine the trajectory of these institutions, considering their market participation, the volume of credit offered, the interest rates charged and the limits of their operation within the structure of the National Financial System. To this end, the study compares the behavior of fintechs and traditional banks in credit granting, operating conditions and the cost of credit throughout the period analyzed. The results show that fintechs expanded their presence in the sector and increased the financing alternatives available, but continued to operate with average interest rates higher than those charged by traditional banks. This behavior is related to the higher-risk profile of the clients served and to the macroeconomic conditions of the period. Thus, although these institutions contributed to expanding credit supply through digital channels, they did not, on their own, break with the high-interest-rate structure that characterizes the Brazilian credit market.