Impact of fintech usages on financial inclusion initiatives: perspective from Urban slum dwellers of Uttarakhand

ABSTRACTThis study explores awareness levels, the factors influencing awareness, and the impact of actual usages of fintech services on the acceleration of financial inclusion initiatives among the urban poor of the disadvantaged geographic segment of society. Data have been gathered from a sample of 100 individuals residing in urban slums in Uttarakhand, and analysis has been conducted utilizing the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique. The study finds that there is a moderate-to-low level of awareness except awareness of digital methods of payments, which is very high. Income and education are the prominent factors affecting awareness. Lastly, fintech is an effective lever that significantly accelerates the financial inclusion initiatives among urban slum dwellers.KEYWORDS: AccessUsagesQualityFintech AdoptionUrban Poor AcknowledgmentsThe paper has been presented at CIEMC Conference 2022. The current manuscript is a revised and an improvised version of the paper as per the suggestions of Conference reviewers. We thank the CIEMC Conference 2022 organizers of the Indian Institute of Management Bodhgaya.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThe authors received no external financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.Notes on contributorsShweta JhaShweta Jha is a PhD research scholar in the Department of Commerce, HNB Garhwal Central University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. In 2019, she successfully achieved the NTA JRF qualification in commerce. She has received the Best Paper Award in the conferences organized by the IIM Kashipur.R. C. DangwalDr Ramesh Chandra Dangwal is a Professor at the Department of Commerce, HNB Garhwal Central University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. He has 34 years of teaching and research experience. Under his supervision, 28 scholars have been awarded Ph.D. degrees. His areas of interest are Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Regional Development.