Controlled behavioral experiments
Simulation of fraudulent scenarios in a safe laboratory environment.
FINTECHLAB — EST. 2025
BEHAVIOR.FINANCE.PROTECTION.
We study behavioral vulnerabilities in digital finance — and turn experimental evidence into protective technologies, education, and regulatory insight.
THE DECISION NETWORK
From stimulus to financial action.
A live map of how a financial choice forms — from the first cue to the irreversible click.
01 / 06·STIMULUS
An external cue enters the field — message, alert, offer, authority signal.
/01 — RESEARCH
Four research pillars.
/02 — HOW WE STUDY BEHAVIOR
Research instruments.
Experimental simulation, measurement, modeling, and intervention design — scored by changes in action, not only awareness.
Immersive trainers & VR
Games, simulators, and immersive scenarios for pressure-conditioned learning.
Eye tracking & neurophysiology
Measurement of attention and physiological response under manipulative stimuli.
Behavioral analytics & clustering
MECE profiling, cluster models, and large-scale pattern monitoring.
Predictive modeling
Machine-learning approaches to victimization and vulnerability risk.
Intervention & nudge design
Inoculation protocols, checklists, and interface nudges tested against real behavior.
/ FIELD SIGNAL
Protective knowledge
fails under pressure.
We measure why.
/03 — CURRENT RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
From programs to tools.
Status meanings
- ACTIVE RESEARCH — Ongoing research work — not a finished product.
- IN DEVELOPMENT — Being built or instrumented; not publicly deployed.
- PILOT — Limited trial with partners or cohorts.
- IMPLEMENTED — Registered, deployed, or in operational use where stated.
- PLANNED — Roadmapped initiative — not active delivery.
- COMPLETED — Finished research or delivery cycle.
Tool / technology
T/001/IMPLEMENTED2025
Golden Detector Simulator
Registered interactive training program for protection against financial fraud and social engineering.
Explore
Implementation
I/001/IMPLEMENTED2024
Cognitive Shield
Practice-oriented program for countering social engineering and financial fraud in the banking sector and for the public.
Explore
Research infrastructure
D/001/ACTIVE RESEARCH2026
Atlas of Cognitive Vulnerabilities
A systematized map of psychological mechanisms and vulnerabilities exploited by fraudsters, grounded in experiments and surveys.
Explore
Research infrastructure
D/002/IN DEVELOPMENT2026
RBDISIN — Social-Engineering Incident Database
Russian database of social-engineering incidents: depersonalized cases from partners for analysis, modeling, and experimentation.
Explore
Research infrastructure
D/003/PLANNED2026
Behavioral Vulnerability Index
Planned quarterly analytic product on population behavioral vulnerability.
Explore
Implementation
I/002/IMPLEMENTED2025
Regionally Differentiated Antifraud Content
Targeted content developed for the Bank of Russia Information Security Department: cluster analysis across 8 federal districts, 6 persona types, and differentiated strategies.
Explore
Tool / technology
T/006/IN DEVELOPMENT2026
Protective Interface Nudges
Interface elements and behavioral checklists designed for embedding into banking applications at moments of suspicious action.
Explore
/ EVIDENCE
What the laboratory can show today.
Counts below are derived from catalogued lab materials on this site — not marketing estimates.
4
Research programs
14
Catalogued research outputs
4
Registered software / databases
11
Active initiatives
10
Named institutional collaborations
12
Education & training formats
Peer-reviewed researchApplied behavioral experimentsRegistered research softwareInstitutional collaborations
/04 — FROM RESEARCH TO IMPACT
Science that becomes protection.
A working loop from observation to implementation in financial environments.
01
Observe
Human behavior under financial and social-engineering pressure.
02
Measure
Experiments, neurophysiological signals, and incident data.
03
Model
Vulnerability mechanisms, victim clusters, and predictive risk.
04
Design
Interventions, trainers, nudges, and protective protocols.
05
Test
Behavioral-change metrics — action, not only knowledge.
06
Implement
Financial institutions, regulators, and educational systems.
/ EXPERIMENT
Would you recognize manipulation under pressure?
A short live probe from the Cognitive-Behavioral Security line — feel how urgency, authority, and loss cues stack before a financial action.
This is a safe laboratory simulation. No data is sent.
Secure Banking Alert
Unusual transfer detected. Confirm identity within 45 seconds to prevent account freeze.
/05 — FROM RESEARCH TO EDUCATION
Education as infrastructure.
Master’s programs, professional courses, and training formats that move laboratory methods into classrooms and financial organizations.
E/001/Master’s programPILOT
Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology
SPbU master’s program; described as a Bank of Russia pilot project with banking and industry collaborators.
E/002/Master’s programACTIVE
Platform Economy
SPbU master’s program developed with regulatory and industry collaborators named in laboratory materials.
E/003/Additional educationACTIVE
DOP: Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology
Additional professional education track at SPbU.
E/006/Online courseLAUNCHING 2026
Cognitive Shield: Information Security in the Digital World
Online course for first-year students: cyber threats, personal data, social networks, deepfakes, practical defense skills.
All first-year students
E/007/Online courseLAUNCHING 2026
Behavioral Security in the Financial Environment
Online course on financial literacy, banking, credit, insurance, digital payments, and case analysis.
Year 1–2 students
E/008/TrainingRECURRING
Cognitive Shield for Bank Employees
Practice program on countering social engineering, delivered with banking association and Bank of Russia structures.
Financial systems are technological.
Financial decisions are human.
We study the space where manipulation meets protection.
/06 — RESEARCH OUTPUT
Selected research output.
2026JOURNAL ARTICLEPsychological Portrait of a Bank Employee: From Vulnerability to Resilience under Financial FraudMedyanik O.V., Kuznetsov S.V., Medyanik A.I., Gasymov E.Sh.Review of Pedagogical Research, 8(3)
2026JOURNAL ARTICLEBehavioral Economics and Financial Security: Psychological Mechanisms of Vulnerability and TrustTosunyan G.A., Medyanik O.V.Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Economics, 42(2)IN PRESS
2025REGISTERED IPInteractive Training Program in Financial Fraud Prevention: Golden Detector SimulatorMedyanik O.V., Medyanik S.I.Software registration certificate 2025696334
2025JOURNAL ARTICLEPropensity to Financial Suggestion: Neuropsychological and Psychophysiological FactorsMedyanik O.V., Shoshina I.I., Legostaeva N.I., Medyanik S.I.Russian Psychological Journal, 22(2), 227–248→/07 — LABORATORY
People behind the research.
Academia, regulation, and banking practice in one research unit.
G. A. Tosunyan
Scientific Director
Banking law · financial regulation · industry dialogue
Profile →
Olga V. Medyanik
Deputy Scientific Director · Leading Researcher
Behavioral economics · economic psychology · social engineering defense
Profile →
Maria A. Gagarina
Research Collaborator
Economic psychology · developmental psychology
Profile →
Oleg V. Skvortsov
Industry Lead · Association of Banks of Russia
Digital banking · fintech regulation · industry standards
Profile →
Sergey V. Kuznetsov
Regulatory Practice · Bank of Russia
Cybersecurity · social-engineering prevention · regional finance
Profile →
Stas Medyanik
Senior Researcher · AI / ML
Fraud detection · behavioral risk scoring · SupTech / RegTech
Profile →
/ FIELD NOTES
Field Notes
2025-12-17 · Registered technology
Golden Detector training software registered
Software certificate 2025696334 records the interactive simulator for financial-fraud and social-engineering defense. Full deployment is planned for October 2026.
2025-09-05 · Research forum
Cognitive Shield round table supported at SPbU
SPbU scientific-event support for the round table on social-engineering counterpractice in banking (through 2026).
2025-01-01 · Laboratory
FinTechLab SPbU established as interdisciplinary center
Laboratory materials date formation to 2025 — linking behavioral economics, information security, and financial technology at SPbU.
2024-01-01 · Implementation
Cognitive Shield methodology moves into credit organizations
Team materials describe methodological rollout for social-engineering defense across multiple credit organizations and regions.
/08 — ECOSYSTEM
Science connected to practice.
Collaborations named in laboratory materials. Relationship labels stay conservative.
Bank of Russia
Regulatory collaboration
Association of Banks of Russia
Industry association collaboration
Kaspersky
Cybersecurity ecosystem
Positive Technologies
Cybersecurity ecosystem
Ingosstrakh
Program collaboration
Alfa-Bank
Collaboration
Wildberries & Russ (RVB)
Program collaboration
SPIMEX (SpbMTSB)
Named ecosystem partner
RESO-Garantiya
Program collaboration
Rosfinmonitoring
Regulatory collaboration
WORK WITH FTLAB
Research questions become stronger when they meet real-world problems.
FinTechLab is open to research collaborations with financial institutions, regulators, technology partners, and academic groups who need evidence-based approaches to behavioral risk in finance.
- Research collaborations
- Financial institutions
- Regulators
- Technology partners
- Academic collaborators
legal@ftlab.space