Digital innovation enablers in sustainable banking and insurance: a systematic review of business model transformation factors
Abstract
Banking and insurance institutions face increasing pressure to transform their business models through digital technologies while advancing sustainability objectives, yet existing research remains fragmented in explaining how digital innovation is translated into sustainable outcomes. This systematic review applies PRISMA guidelines to synthesize 168 peer-reviewed articles published between 2002 and 2026 from Scopus and Web of Science, using systematic screening, structured coding, and thematic analysis to examine the links among digital transformation, business model innovation, and sustainable performance in banking and insurance. The review identifies an evolutionary trajectory from basic digitalization and financial inclusion models toward AI-enabled, ecosystem-based, and sustainability-integrated business model transformation. More importantly, the synthesis develops a mechanism-based explanation of sustainable transformation by showing that business model innovation functions as an enabler, amplifier, mediator, moderator, and boundary spanner through five mechanisms: technology-enabled inclusion, ecosystem orchestration, revenue model transformation, risk resilience engineering, and stakeholder value co-creation. The review further proposes a four-archetype framework comprising The Reinventors, The Mavericks, The Adapters, and The Adventurers, each reflecting different combinations of innovation impetus, organizational focus, sectoral logic, and sustainability orientation. By translating these findings into concrete and testable propositions, this review contributes a parsimonious research agenda for examining when, how, and under what conditions digital business model innovation produces sustainable transformation in banking and insurance.
