Abstract: In recent years, information technology is transforming traditional financial intermediaries, and changing the structure of financial markets from the inside out. This paper analyzes the role of information technology in changing the trading mechanism of U.S. securities market, expounds the course of telephone communication to network communication and the rise of both the online brokerage companies and the electronic trading networks. Furthermore, it analyzes the blockchain digital currency and the mobile online payment——the two major breakthroughs of information technology in the field of digital payment. The possible impact of these two technological changes on the international payment and settlement system are also discussed. Firstly, it is unlikely that there will be decentralized digital currency transcending national rights in the future. Secondly, it is expected to usher in a new international currency driven by financial technology, citing the global mobile payment and electronic settlement. It presents new market trends and offers the opportunity of RMB for the world’s reserve currency.

Key words: information technology, financial technology, creative destruction, blockchain, online payment