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Financial inclusion plays an essential role in today’s modern era. There has been a growing recognition that financial inclusion is an important enabler in poverty reduction. It is an essential tool in enabling inclusive growth and reducing poverty. This study aims to identify the barriers that limit customers to use digital financial services (DFS) in Pakistan. Second, this study aims to spread awareness of DFS and benefits of digital financial inclusion and services to retain customers in Pakistan. Third, the study purposes to retain old customers toward DFS in Pakistan.

This study is qualitative phenomenology study. The data were collected through interviews (i.e., online or face-to-face, depending on participants convenience). The sample comprised respondents with different age and different nature of work. Before conducting actual interviews, the interview questions were validated by three experts working in the State Bank of Pakistan in the relevant field. The interviews took from those individuals who were have digital financial account, but not using it due to some reasons. Data analysis carried out by using the NVivo software to deliver the themes after analyzing the data by querying, visualizing and coding.

The study categorized s6 themes as second order themes including dependency, illiteracy, lack of trust, cost, lack of access to financial services and financial instability by emerging 16 subject themes as 1st order themes. It including financial illiteracy, digital illiteracy, lack of knowledge, depend on spouse, depend on parents/children, depend on siblings, fear, security issues, privacy issues, lack of internet access, lack of account access, unemployment, low income, high expenses, other cost and transaction cost. These barriers limit DFS adoption and its use. This study found that 90% respondents were financial illiterate and 80% respondents do not have the knowledge of new recent e-payment system.

However, this study contributes to reducing these barriers and spreading knowledge about financial inclusion and DFS. From a managerial perspective, additional attention needs to be devoted to the adoption of financial inclusion and innovation in DFS.

Islamic finance growth depends on factors that are crucial for fostering positive perceptions and increasing acceptance, particularly in Muslim countries. This study aims to investigate the influence of awareness, knowledge, religion and the advantages on perceptions of Shariah scholars toward Islamic banks in Pakistan and the mediating role of attitude.

The study collected data through a questionnaire from 200 Shariah scholars in Pakistan who have completed or are currently enrolled in Islamic banking and finance courses. It employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using SPSS and AMOS software to analyze the data to evaluate measurement and structural models, ensuring the validity and reliability of the constructs and testing hypotheses to examine the relationships among factors and perception.

The study identified a significant influence of knowledge and attitude on perception, thus supporting H3 and H9. H2, H6 and H8 indicate an insignificant impact of awareness, religious motivation and advantage on perception. This highlights the need for Islamic banks to bridge academic and industry gaps, ensuring that their promotional efforts emphasize monitoring by Sharia committees. The research revealed significant impacts of factors on attitude, confirming H1, H3, H5 and H7. Importantly, attitude was found to play a pivotal role as a mediator between factors and Shariah scholars’ perceptions of Islamic banking in Pakistan.

By investigating the perspectives of Shariah scholars, this research seeks to provide insights into enhancing the understanding and development of Islamic banking practices within the context of Islamic principles and global financial landscapes.

This research contributes to the field by uniquely focusing on Shariah scholars’ perceptions of Islamic banking, addressing a significant gap in literature because little research has been conducted to address these issues from the Shariah scholars’ perspectives.