The Intersection of FinTech Adoption and Financial Inclusion Worldwide

Abstract:

Financial technology (FinTech) has changed the terms on which households and small firms reach formal financial services. Yet the evidence on whether it narrows or reproduces exclusion remains fragmented across technical, economic and development literatures. This review synthesises 24 peer-reviewed studies published between 2017 and 2026. It combines a bibliometric description of publication trends, journals and thematic clusters with a qualitative synthesis of empirical findings from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Three results emerge. First, mobile financial services remain the strongest documented driver of account ownership where banking infrastructure is thin, although access frequently does not convert into sustained use. Second, blockchain and artificial intelligence extend the frontier of inclusion through lower verification costs and alternative credit scoring, while concentrating new risk in unregulated lending and opaque algorithms. Third, adoption is mediated less by perceived usefulness than by trust, digital literacy, social awareness and the regulatory environment, which technology acceptance models treat as background rather than structure. The review argues that individual-level theories cannot explain institutional variation, proposes an integrative framework linking drivers, mediating capabilities and outcomes, and sets out a research agenda on causality, gender and consumer protection.