We herein examine the progress of financial innovations over the past 30 years, beginning with how they have influenced the financial system. We adopt a framework of classification that provides an overview of previous findings to examine the continuity of financial innovations. We find that the progress of financial innovations is discontinuous and is characterized by isolation and limited research studies. Finally, we highlight the main reasons why the previous literature in this area is limited and how financial innovations have not yet reached the point of diminishing returns.