Financial Technologies and Financial Inclusion in Emerging Economies: Perspectives from Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined the interplay between financial technologies and financial inclusion in emerging economies especially from the Nigerian perspective. The study adopted the exploratory research design involving extensive review of related published materials including statistics obtained from reputable sources such as the World Bank, the Enhancing Financial Inclusion Surveys and the Global Findex reports. The study found that while the deployment of financial technologies has aided the financial inclusion drive in Nigeria, progress is still being hampered by challenges relating to poor system interoperability, socio-cultural induced gender sensitivities, concerns of data privacy breaches and over serving of cities by Fintechs to the detriment of priority rural areas. The study therefore recommended that regulatory authorities should provide clear policy frameworks that address issues of gender sensitivities, breach of data privacy and encourage a redirection of fintech activities to priority rural areas for greater impact on the financial inclusion drive. Also, efforts should be made to improve system interoperability and linkages between the conventional banks and fintech players to mitigate the challenges of frequent downtimes and service glitches which heightens trust deficiency.