Financial technologies (FinTech) provide innovative solutions in the provision of financial services, reducing costs, increasing transaction speeds and strengthening financial inclusion; thus, they play a strategic role in the sustainability and competitiveness of modern financial systems. The effective use of financial technologies by the banking sector contributes to improving the customer experience, increasing operational efficiency, strengthening risk management, and creating a more innovative, flexible, and competitive structure in the sector. However, the effectiveness of banks' use of financial technologies is still being debated by researchers.

In this context, the study aims to analyse the effects of FinTech investments on the banking sector in Turkey; the effect in question was measured using monthly data for the 2022–2025 period through the Borsa Istanbul Banking Index (XBANK). Within the scope of the empirical analysis, the ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) bounds test method was applied to examine the relationship between FinTech investments and the Istanbul Stock Exchange Banking Index (XBANK). This method allowed both short-term effects and long-term relationships to be evaluated simultaneously.

The analysis findings indicate that FinTech investments have a negative but statistically insignificant effect on XBANK in the long term. In short-term analyses, it was determined that the effects did not appear directly but with a certain delay, becoming significant particularly in the fifth to eighth lag periods. These results indicate that the effects of FinTech investments on the banking sector may emerge over time and that this effect is realised primarily through indirect channels.