Toward a Digital and Sustainable Finance Ecosystem: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis on Fintech and ESG

ABSTRACT The integration of Financial Technology (FinTech) with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations highlights the burgeoning potential of digitally enabled green finance solutions. This study responds to the emerging stream of research at this interdisciplinary nexus by undertaking a systematic bibliometric analysis of 228 documents indexed in the Scopus database, over the period 2020–2025. It aims to identify key trends, influential authors, and leading journals in this field. It further conducts a systematic review, using VOS viewer and R Studio (Bibliometrix) to demonstrate shifts in research themes within the FinTech‐ESG domain. While early research themes focused on financial inclusion, subsequent studies emphasize the technological drivers of green finance, particularly blockchain, artificial intelligence, and big data as well as the transitions toward carbon neutrality and the circular economy. The study identifies five major research gaps: (i) limited longitudinal evidence on the impact of FinTech on ESG; (ii) insufficient research on the ESG‐transformative role of FinTech in developing economies; (iii) lack of cross‐country comparative studies; (iv) underexplored linkages between governance and FinTech; (v) absence of well‐developed empirical frameworks examining the interplay between decentralized finance and the circular economy. The gaps are addressed by employing a structured TCCM (Theory‐Context‐Characteristics‐Methodology) framework, which provides a coherent research agenda to advance theory development, inform ESG‐oriented digital finance regulatory framework for policymakers, and help practitioners in sustainable FinTech value creation.