Financial inclusion A study on determinants of adoption of digital financial services

Abstract

Abstract newlineGlobally, most people do not have access to financial services, especially in developing countries. Governments, banks, and financial institutions focus on providing financial services for unserved and underserved populations. The traditional form of financial services spread was uneven across the territories and rural areas were ignored due to unprofitable. Hence, technology would help to overcome some of the barriers to financial inclusion. Digital financial services like internet banking, mobile banking, and digital payments enable rural people to access and use different financial services. Despite of benefits provided by digital financial services, their use was very low and slow in India, especially in rural areas. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the key determinants of the adoption and continuous use of digital financial services in rural areas with a self-designed research model. To achieve the objectives of the study 665 samples were recruited from different rural parts of Andhra Pradesh. PLS-SEM was employed for the data analysis. The results identified that subjective norms, ease of use, relative advantage, self-efficacy, and perceived risk were significant factors in the adoption of digital financial services. Digital financial inclusion was determined by the adoption of digital financial services, subjective norms, ease of use, and relative advantage. Hence, the empirical results of the study emphasized that the adoption of digital financial services had significantly accelerated the financial inclusion and use of financial services very frequently to meet financial obligations. newline