This work aims to understand current trends in the financial sector. Many trends are the technological solutions provided by new players operating in the financial sector (fintech), leading to different perspectives for the future awaiting private citizens and companies. This work presupposes the need to understand how the traditional financial system is able to keep up with the continuous and changing demands of a society that is evolving towards 4.0 and is increasingly aiming to meet environmental, social, and governance sustainability criteria. Above all, this chapter requires an understanding of the real reasons why systems such as decentralised finance are taking over despite the presence of well-established players. In this work, the authors aim to investigate the players, the battleground of a clash between tradition and innovation in the financial field, and whether the measures adopted by the banking system to adapt to the trends of technological innovation are sufficient to stand up to a real model of innovative development which sees a closer relationship between stakeholders and companies and which is far from the traditional banking–company system.
