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The main purpose of this study is to test for the interaction effect of digital literacy in the relationship between financial technologies (FinTechs) of biometrics and mobile money and digital financial inclusion among the unbanked poor women, youth and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in rural Uganda.

Covariance-based structural equation modeling was used to construct the interaction effect using data collected from the unbanked poor women, youth and PWDs located in the four regions in Uganda as prescribed by Hair et al. (2022).

The findings from this study are threefold: first; the results revealed a positive interaction effect of digital literacy between FinTechs of biometrics and mobile money and digital financial inclusion. Second; the results also confirmed that biometrics identification positively promotes digital financial inclusion. Lastly; the results showed that mobile money positively promotes digital financial inclusion. A combination of FinTechs of biometrics and mobile money together with digital literacy explain 29% variation in digital financial inclusion among the unbanked poor women, youth and PWDs in rural Uganda.

The data for this study were collected mainly from the unbanked poor women, youth and PWDs. Further studies may look at data from other sections of the vulnerable population in under developed financial markets. Additionally, the data for this study were collected only from Uganda as a developing country. Thus, more data may be obtained from other developing countries to draw conclusive and generalized empirical evidence. Besides, the current study used cross sectional design to collect the data. Therefore, future studies may adopt longitudinal research design to investigate the impact of FinTechs on digital financial inclusion in the presence of digital literacy across different time range.

The governments in developing countries like Uganda should support women, youth, PWDs and other equally vulnerable groups, especially in the rural communities to understand and use FinTechs. This can be achieved through digital literacy that can help them to embrace digital financial services and competently navigate and perform digital transactions over digital platforms like mobile money without making errors. Besides, governments in developing countries like Uganda can use this finding to advocate for the design of appropriate digital infrastructures to reach remote areas and ensure “last mile connectivity for digital financial services' users.” The use of off-line solutions can complement the absence or loss of on-line network connectivity for biometrics and mobile money to close the huge digital divide gap in rural areas. This can scale-up access to and use of financial services by the unbanked rural population.

This paper sheds more light on the importance of digital literacy in the ever complex and dynamic global FinTech ecosystem in the presence of rampant cyber risks. To the best of the authors' knowledge, limited studies currently exist that integrate digital literacy as a moderator in the relationship between FinTechs and digital financial inclusion, especially among vulnerable groups in under-developed digital financial markets in developing countries. This is the novelty of the paper with data obtained from the unbanked poor women, youth and PWDs in rural Uganda.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that may have an influence on the continuous intention to use mobile money as one of the Financial Technology (FinTech) products beyond the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period.

This study has empirically tested the expanded post-acceptance model (Extend-PAM) and the expectation-confirmation model (ECM) to explain the mobile money adoption in Jordan. Data collected were analyzed through partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results mainly showed that the quality of administrative services and trust significantly impact confirmation and perceived usefulness. In addition, perceived security and knowledge of mobile money as one of the FinTech services significantly influence users’ confirmation and perceived usefulness. Also, usefulness and satisfaction influence continuous intention. Significant relationships were noted among confirmation, perceived usefulness, satisfaction and continuous intention to use mobile money.

This paper integrates two key theories: the expanded post-acceptance model (Extend-PAM) and the expectation-confirmation model (ECM) in the post-adoption behavior of mobile money. Therefore, this study attempts to fill a literature gap by examining the antecedent factors that influence the continuous intention to use mobile money services in the post-consumption stage.

Premised on the assertion that financial digitalization is currently the panacea and game changer in delivering progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) through universal financial inclusion, especially in developing countries, the purpose of this paper is to establish the moderating effect of transaction tax exemptions in the relationship between mobile money adoption and usage and financial inclusion.

A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 379 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which use mobile money services drawn from the Northern District of Gulu in Uganda to provide responses for this study. The predictive relevancy and the effect size of the model were determined by running partial least square algorithm through structural equation model (SEM) with 5,000 bootstrap samples in SmartPLS-SEM 3.0.

The findings indicated that all the latent variables of transaction tax exemptions showed significant and positive impact on mobile money adoption and usage to advance financial inclusion in developing countries. Moreover, when combined together, the overall SEM predictive model revealed a significant moderating effect of transaction tax exemptions in the relationship between mobile money adoption and usage and financial inclusion. This implies that transaction tax exemptions on digital financial innovations such as the mobile money services can stimulate economic growth through increased level of financial inclusion labeled as the main enabler in achieving the SDGs by the year 2030.

Whereas data were collected from users of mobile money services, the samples were drawn specifically from MSMEs’ owners located in the Northern District of Gulu in Uganda. Thus, users located in other districts were not included in the sample for this study. Similarly, this study limited itself to only financial services offered through the mobile money platform. It ignored other digital financial channels such as the internet and electronic banking.

Going forward, in order to improve the economic well-being of households at the “bottom of the pyramid,” governments in developing countries should embrace the significant role of transaction tax exemptions in promoting digital financial innovations such as the mobile money services for increased level of financial inclusion. The governments in developing countries where mobile money has greatly spurred financial inclusion should not only reduce the existing transaction taxes on mobile money services but scrap it off in order to champion progressive increase in the level of universal financial inclusion prescribed as a key enabler in eliminating global poverty, especially in developing countries.

This study hints on the moderating effect of transaction tax exemptions in the relationship between mobile money adoption and usage and financial inclusion. The paradox in the current trends on transaction taxes on mobile money services, especially in developing countries remain a dearth in the nascent global FINTECH ecosystem.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of fintech, mobile money and digital financial services in Uganda and factors impacting adoption of the services. The study will also determine their social impact through financial inclusion in the Ugandan market.

This study covers the adoption and use of fintech, mobile money and digital financial services in Uganda. A case study approach was used through a survey questionnaire for 400 randomly selected participants within the Kampala region. Questionnaire was designed to measure customer perception of digital financial services and adoption including mobile money and agency banking.

The adoption of mobile money services is driven by mobile devices penetration and the need for access to financial products and services for the unbanked. Results support CGAP (2013) that observed that mobile money adoption was based on two key variables: social network and social interactions of the customer and a segment of customers who can be described as mobile technology leaders (early adopters). There has been positive impact on person to person transfers, grocery payments and mobile money providers have to continue to simplify the access to financial services and bring convenience to the bottom of the pyramid. And mobile money positively impacts sustainable developmental goals covering Gender Equality (SDG5), SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth; expanding financial inclusion through mobile money and SDG 10 – Reduce Inequalities.

This study has limitations commonly prevalent with qualitative research, including the small size limited to Kampala and challenges of making generalisations beyond this context.

The paper might serve as a valuable source of information for government and fintech companies in developing the digital financial services ecosystem as well as for students and academics for further case studies in this area.

This paper serves as one of the first qualitative research papers concerning mobile money and digital financial services adoption, solely focused on Uganda. Its value is in its showcasing of the importance of mobile money among customers in emerging markets.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers of consumer engagement and its consequences via the experiences of mobile money services’ users in Ghana and to discuss its implications for the society, financial service innovation, delivery and operations.

A pre-tested survey instrument was used with a sample of 595 mobile money services users in Ghana. SmartPLS application was used to analyze the data and report findings.

The study shows that perceived risk, consumer empowerment, subjective norm, performance expectancy and effort expectancy influence the affect component of consumer engagement and explain around half of its variance. The effect of perceived risk on consumer engagement was counterintuitive. Perceived risk was significant and positive for cognitive processing, whereas the effect was significant but negative for affect. The authors found support for the positive effect of cognitive processing on advocacy intention but no support for its effect on continuous usage. By contrast, affect strongly influenced both advocacy intention and continuous usage of mobile money services.

The authors highlight the implications of mobile money services to business and marketing/service managers, policy makers, non-banking entities (such as telecoms and financial technology firms) and to the society in general. The authors provide important insights into how service providers can manage consumer engagement process and formulate marketing strategies to target and promote this simple, but innovative service to consumers. Moreover, the authors discuss the societal implications of the study in Ghana, a developing country. The authors recommend several options for future studies in order to stimulate the research agenda on mobile financial services in general.

The present study shows that although mobile money was initially introduced to help consumers who hitherto have no access to formal banking services, this form of banking has become increasingly popular among various consumer segments as its usage and adoption has increased multifold largely in emerging and developing countries. The main contribution of this study is the development and testing of the “mobile money customer engagement model.” Moreover, this study shows the key factors that influence the engagement process and the effects of these factors as analyzed within the context of a developing country.

Drawing from the argument that mobile money services have a significant potential to provide a wide range of affordable, convenient and secure financial services, there have been rampant frauds on consumers of financial products over the digital financial platform. Thus, this study aims to establish the mediating effect of digital consumer protection in the relationship between mobile money adoption and usage and financial inclusion with data collected from micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in northern Uganda.

To achieve the main objective of this study, a research model was developed to test for the mediating effect of digital consumer protection in the relationship between mobile money adoption and usage and financial inclusion. The data were collected from MSMEs and structural equation modelling in partial least square (PLS) combined with bootstrap was applied to analyze and test the hypotheses of this study. The direct and indirect effect of mobile money adoption and usage on financial inclusion was tested through digital consumer protection as a mediator variable.

The findings from the PLS-structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that mobile money adoption and usage has both direct and indirect effect on financial inclusion. Moreover, financial inclusion is influenced by both mobile money adoption and usage and digital consumer protection.

The study used partial least square (PLS-SEM) combined with bootstrap confidence intervals through a formative approach to establish the mediating effect of the mediator variable. Hence, it ignored the use of covariance-based SEM and the MedGraph programme. Furthermore, data were collected from samples located in Gulu district, northern Uganda and specifically from MSMEs. This limits generalization of the study findings to other population who also use mobile money services.

Promoters of digital financial services, managers of telecommunication companies, and financial inclusion advocates should consider strengthening the existing digital consumer protection laws on the mobile money platform. A collaborative approach between the mobile network operators, financial institutions and regulators should tighten the existing laws against mobile money fraudsters and an efficient mechanism for recourse, compensation and remedy should be set up to benefit the victims of frauds and cybercrime on the Fintech ecosystem.

The current study gives a useful insight into the critical mediating role of digital consumer protection as a cushion for promoting financial inclusion through mobile phones over the Fintech that face great threat and risk from cyber insecurity.

Fraud is a global economic menace which threatens the survival of individuals, firms, industries and economies, and the mobile money service is no exception. This paper aims to explore the main causes of fraud in the mobile money services in Ghana and the measures to combat the menace by the key stakeholders connected to the mobile money services. The paper is motivated by recent reports of numerous fraudulent transactions on the mobile money platform, and the need to clamp down these nefarious transactions with effective and practical measures to sustain the service.

A thorough review of existing studies on fraud risk relating to mobile money services was done revealing a paucity of literature on the subject. Primary data were gathered using an interview guide to explore the magnitude of the problem based on the views of employees of mobile money operators, mobile money agents, banking supervisors from Bank of Ghana, employees of partnering banks, employees of National Communications Authority and mobile money subscribers.

The study revealed that fraud in mobile money services is caused by weak internal controls and systems, lack of sophisticated information technology tools to detect the menace, inadequate education and training and the poor remuneration of employees. These factors disrupt the growth, and the smooth-running of the services. To curb this menace, a detailed legal code and internal fraud policy should be developed and used by mobile money operators and partner banks. Adequate training for mobile money agents should be encouraged coupled with public awareness campaigns to educate stakeholders especially the mobile money subscribers on the tricks of the fraudsters.

With the chosen research methodology and limited sample size, the findings may not reflect the views of all the stakeholders connected to the mobile money services. Therefore, future studies on this subject are entreated to use research methods which embrace larger samples to get more details about this menace.

The study will assist in tackling the mobile money fraud to sustain the service in the foreseeable future.

This paper contributes to scanty literature on fraud relating to the mobile money services by drawing lessons from a middle-income country.

This paper aims to assess the legal and regulatory framework for mobile banking (M-banking) in Tanzania. The technological development in information and communication technologies has converted a mobile phone from a simple communication device to a very complex instrument that allows people to perform various digital transactions and extra operations such as web browsing and email reading. Such tremendous developments have brought in place the regime of M-banking. The birth of M-banking has brought legal and institutional challenges that were not anticipated before. It has complicated the traditional role of the telecommunication regulator and financial regulator in the business and caused legal gaps that need to be bridged.

To disclose the legal gaps and bridge them, the study used doctrinal legal method and comparative study to learn the experience of international legal instruments and policies and laws of other jurisdictions. This paper has evaluated the contribution of international legal instruments and legal frameworks of foreign jurisdictions such as Kenya and the Philippines.

It has been revealed that the prevailing laws regulating M-banking in Tanzania do not adequately address and bridge the existing legal gaps. There is a need to enact a specific law regulating M-banking and confer such powers to a specific institution to deal with regulatory issues.

This paper stresses the importance of enacting new laws that will offer room for financial inclusion in the digital economy and protect consumers against financial risk. It also intends to act as a catalyst and change agent in policy and legislative development in the M-banking industry. It would also bring special attention to addressing consumer rights, security and risky issues surrounding the M-banking industry. Although several other authors in Tanzania have written in this area, they have not clearly focused on disclosing the existing legal gaps resulting from the convergence of the financial and communication sectors. This paper is therefore trying to offer an extensive discussion on the legislative development in the M-banking industry in Tanzania.

This paper aims to explore the extent to which low‐income migrant workers in emerging Asia are aware of and are likely to use mobile phones for remitting money to family members at home.

Data were obtained through a survey of 1,500+ local and overseas migrant workers at the bottom of the socio‐economic pyramid and subsequent qualitative research in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Thailand.

Findings reveal that less than a quarter of respondents in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were aware of such services. However, the Philippines and Thailand reported awareness of levels of over 40 percent. Using a logit model to assess socio‐economic characteristics of those aware of such services (versus those who are not), findings revealed those aware of such services tended to enjoy higher standards of living, in terms of both income and education and ownership of mobile phones and bank accounts. Barriers to use are also explored.

This study is likely one of the first of its kind in attempting to empirically estimate socio‐economic characteristics of those aware of such services versus those who are not. Such findings can, undoubtedly prove useful to operators in deciding how best to market such services, including addressing potential barriers to use, such as perceived ease of use and trust and reliability issues.

Mobile money is a service in which the mobile phone is used to access financial services. Thus, the mobile money platform should be user-friendly with hedonic features that are attractive and pleasurable to the users. The main purpose of this paper is to establish the mediating effect of hedonism in the relationship between mobile money adoption and usage and financial inclusion of micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda.

This study reports interesting findings by using data obtained from MSMEs located in northern Uganda. The structural equation and measurement models were generated in analysis of moment structures (AMOS) to answer the hypotheses of this study.

The findings suggest that including hedonism in the model improves mobile money adoption and usage by 12.7 percentage points in order to promote financial inclusion of MSMEs in Uganda. Hedonism is found to affect mobile money adoption and usage, which in turn influences financial inclusion.

This study used cross-sectional data to document the mediating effect of hedonism in the relationship between mobile money adoption and usage and financial inclusion. The study analyzed mobile money adoption and usage, hedonism, and financial inclusion from the MSMEs owners' perspective. Future research could use relevant longitudinal data to verify multiple benefits of hedonism in enhancing mobile money adoption and usage as well as other potential digital financial technologies.

This study categorically informs mobile telephone network operators and inventors of mobile money applications to invest more in developing pleasurable and user-friendly mobile money features that can attract more users. The digital financial services' application developers should design user-friendly mobile money applications that suit the needs of all users. This requires careful understanding of diverse attractive features of mobile money services.

This study offers direction to developers of mobile money applications to design pleasurable and user-friendly mobile money platform with features, which are attractive to the different users. Particularly, it highlights the role of hedonic motivation in promoting adoption and use of mobile money technology to increase the scope of financial inclusion of MSMEs in a developing country like Uganda. Indeed, the novelty in this paper is grounded on a blend of financial technology and psychology to promote financial inclusion in under developed economies.