The Impact of Mobile Financial Services on the Usage Dimension of Financial Inclusion: An Empirical Study From Bangladesh

Abstract

A plethora of studies have investigated how Mobile Financial Services (MFS) induces financial inclusion around the world. However, research in the context of Bangladesh was rather limited. Hence, the primary objective of this paper was to investigate whether there was a statistically significant relationship between MFS and financial inclusion, measured by two time series variables – the number of MFS agents and number of registered MFS users per 100,000 of population, from 2017 to 2020. For analyzing the relationship between these two variables, multiple statistical methods were employed – including Vector Auto Regression, Cointegration and Granger Causality. The analysis revealed that both time series variables had an increasing trend with time. More importantly, the analysis specified that there was no statistically significant relationship between MFS, measured by the number of agents and the ‘usage’ dimension of financial inclusion, measured by number of registered MFS users in the context of Bangladesh. Moreover, the study was unable to find any significant changes in the trends of these variables that could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Contribution of Digital Financial Services to Financial Inclusion Promotion in Rwanda: A Case of Musanze District

“…According to the same report, active mobile payment subscribers increased by 12% from 4,915,320 in 2020to 5,528,109 in 2022. (BNR, 2021-2022. With the ever-increasing number of mobile payment subscribers, we need to assess the impact of these digital financial services on financial inclusion.…”

Financial Inclusion Implications on the Liquidity of the Nigerian Capital Market

“…Financial inclusion as an initiative is targeted at ensuring that formal financial services are made accessible and affordable, primarily to low-income people (Omar & Inaba, 2020). Thus, financial inclusion is borne out of the desire to engage as many people as possible in the financial activities through the official channels (Ashraf, 2021). Historically, Nigeria's financial inclusion has its root in the rural banking scheme which was introduced in 1977 to promote the habit of banking among the rural population.…”

“…It provides access to payments and savings thereby opening up new viable markets for financial services providers, which, in turn, increases fiscal revenues for governments and provides employment opportunities for local communities (Blake, Propson, Monteverde & Chidambaram, 2018). Financial inclusion is also regarded as a strong predictor of economic development (Ashraf, 2021). Financial inclusion helps to make financial services more acces-sible to all by ensuring that there is a robust financial market (Ofori-Abebrese, Baidoo & Essiam, 2020).…”