Technology Advancements Shaping the Financial Inclusion Landscape: Present Interventions, Emergence of Artificial Intelligence and Future Directions

Abstract

The global commitment to advancing financial inclusion (FI) relies on technology to connect underserved communities with the formal financial sector. Existing traditional technologies have made some progress, but they often fail to adapt to the unique needs of these populations. Although artificial intelligence (AI) offers new possibilities to meet these limitations, its rapid advancement has outpaced the development of integrative studies, leaving its potential impact on financial access by the underserved largely unexplored. Existing research provides fragmented insights into how different technological interventions impact diverse groups. We develop a segment-outcome-focused analysis to structure a scoping review of 95 information systems studies to assess current technological advances for FI and explore how AI can address their limitations, including limited digital literacy, uneven and high cost of infrastructure, and service personalization. We then engender future research directions and conclude with theoretical contributions and practical implications, emphasizing the potential of AI solutions to advance FI.