FinTech Adoption and Financial Inclusion in Rural Communities: The Role of Awareness, Trust, and Perceived Risk

This study investigated the behavioural determinants of FinTech adoption and their downstream implications for financial inclusion among rural users in Gujarat. Using PLS-SEM on a sample of 210 respondents, the study found that awareness (β = 0.34) and trust (β = 0.29) positively and significantly predicted FinTech adoption, while perceived risk exerted a significant negative effect (β = −0.18). FinTech adoption, in turn, was the most powerful predictor of financial inclusion in the model (β = 0.62), and fully mediated the influence of all three antecedents on financial inclusion outcomes. These findings underscore that expanding digital financial access in rural India requires simultaneous attention to informational, relational, and risk dimensions of the adoption decision. Promoting awareness without addressing trust and perceived risk will yield suboptimal inclusion outcomes; conversely, secure and credible platforms will fail to achieve scale without complementary awareness-building investments. A coordinated, multi-dimensional policy approach integrating digital literacy, regulatory trust, and risk mitigation—is therefore essential for leveraging FinTech as an engine of inclusive financial development in rural emerging markets.

·                 Alhassan, Y., Kuagbela, F., Nurokina, C. D., Appiah, B., Alhassan, Y., Kuagbela, F., Nurokina, C. D., & Appiah, B. (1 C.E., January 1). The Role of Microfinance in Africa: A Review of Outcomes From Ghana and Nigeria [Chapter]. IGI Global Scientific Publishing. (the-role-of-microfinance-in-africa). Https://Services.Igi-Global.Com/Resolvedoi/Resolve.Aspx?Doi=10.4018/978-1-6684-7552-2.Ch007. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-7552-2.ch007 ·                 Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411 ·                 Barik, R., & Sharma, P. (2019). Analyzing the progress and prospects of financial inclusion in India. Journal of Public Affairs, 19. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1948 ·                 Bougie, R., & Sekaran, U. (2025). Research Methods for Business, with eBook Access Code: A Skill Building Approach. John Wiley & Sons. ·                 Chawla, D., & Joshi, H. (2019). Consumer attitude and intention to adopt mobile wallet in India – An empirical study. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(7), 1590–1618. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-09-2018-0256 ·                 Churchill, G. A. (1979). A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/3150876 ·                 Creswell, J. W., Creswell, & J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). ·                 Davis, F., & Davis, F. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly, 13, 319. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008