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Financial Inclusion Strategies: Emerging Trends and Global Perspectives
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Financial Inclusion Strategies: Emerging Trends and Global Perspectives

A special issue of Journal of Risk and Financial Management (ISSN 1911-8074). This special issue belongs to the section "Banking and Finance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 1276

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sanjeev Acharya

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Business and Management, Southern Institute of Technology, Invercargill 9810, New Zealand
Interests: bank performance; corporate governance; sustainable finance; corporate social responsibility; organisational performance; financial inclusion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Max Yap

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Accountancy & Finance, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
2. School of Business and Management, Southern Institute of Technology, Invercargill 9810, New Zealand
Interests: philosophy of accounting; financial modelling; information disclosure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Financial inclusion ensures that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services, enhancing financial stability and economic growth by integrating underserved populations into the financial system. It is a crucial component of economic growth and societal advancement in today's digitally connected world. This Special Issue, titled "Financial Inclusion Strategies: Emerging Trends and Global Perspectives", is dedicated to examining global and emerging trends in financial inclusion.

This Special Issue will explore a diverse range of topics, such as the role of technology in enhancing financial access, the impact of regulatory policies, and the effectiveness of various policy initiatives. We encourage contributors to investigate both the theoretical and the practical connections between financial inclusion and other key areas, including poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and leaders are invited to share their insights and findings on removing barriers and creating inclusive financial systems. Together, we can identify pathways to economic empowerment and social equity, ensuring that no one is excluded from the financial systems of the future.

This Special Issue will provide an important resource for academics, policymakers, and industry professionals who are committed to promoting financial inclusion and addressing the complex challenges that come with this important goal.

Dr. Sanjeev Acharya
Dr. Max Yap
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Risk and Financial Management is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • financial inclusion strategies
  • digital banking for inclusion
  • economic empowerment through financial inclusion
  • regulatory frameworks and financial inclusion
  • enhancing financial accessibility
  • inclusive financial systems
  • microfinance
  • accounting systems for financial inclusion
  • financial inclusion and poverty alleviation
  • sustainable development via financial inclusion
  • fintech innovations for inclusion
  • promoting economic growth through financial inclusion
  • financial literacy and inclusion
  • gender equality in financial inclusion
  • policy interventions for financial inclusion
  • building inclusive financial systems
  • global perspectives on financial inclusion

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  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 1680 KiB  
Article
Financially Savvy or Swayed by Biases? The Impact of Financial Literacy on Investment Decisions: A Study on Indian Retail Investors
by Abhilasha Agarwal, N. V. Muralidhar Rao and Manuel Carlos Nogueira
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2025, 18(6), 322; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18060322 - 11 Jun 2025
Abstract
Financial literacy plays a crucial role in shaping individual investment decisions by influencing susceptibility to behavioural biases such as heuristics, framing effects, cognitive illusions, and herding mentality. While most existing studies have examined financial literacy as a mediating factor, our study is among [...] Read more.
Financial literacy plays a crucial role in shaping individual investment decisions by influencing susceptibility to behavioural biases such as heuristics, framing effects, cognitive illusions, and herding mentality. While most existing studies have examined financial literacy as a mediating factor, our study is among the first in the literature to analyse the role of behavioural biases as mediating factors in the relationship between financial literacy and investment decisions. Specifically, we investigate key biases, including overconfidence, herding, disposition effect, self-attribution, anchoring, availability, representativeness, and familiarity. Using purposive sampling, we collected 482 responses through a structured Likert scale questionnaire. The dataset underwent rigorous validation and reliability tests to ensure robustness. We employed Python-based statistical analysis and used Pearson’s correlation and mediation analysis to explore the relationships between financial literacy, behavioural biases, and investment decisions. With the help of these methods, we were able to uncover relationships and causal pathways which further our understanding of the role of behavioural biases in determining the impact of financial literacy on investment behaviour. The findings illustrate a notable positive correlation between investment decisions and financial literacy, implying that people with higher financial literacy levels possess greater and more rational financial decision-making capabilities. Other analyses have revealed that biases have a moderating effect on this relationship, showing another path through which financial literacy impacts behaviour at the level of the investor. By placing behavioural biases as mediating constructs, this research broadens the scope of investor psychology and the body of knowledge in behavioural finance, highlighting the need to change the approach to how financial literacy programs aimed at investors are structured and implemented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Financial Inclusion Strategies: Emerging Trends and Global Perspectives)
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13 pages, 594 KiB  
Article
A Panel Data Analysis of Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Countries from 1999 to 2024
by Oladotun Larry Anifowose and Bibi Zaheenah Chummun
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2025, 18(5), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18050275 - 16 May 2025
Viewed by 419
Abstract
Globally, financial inclusion is regarded as being crucial for balancing an economy’s financial system. However, despite the significance of financial inclusion, it still needs to be clarified to identify what factors are responsible for the diverse trend of financial inclusion in the forty-five [...] Read more.
Globally, financial inclusion is regarded as being crucial for balancing an economy’s financial system. However, despite the significance of financial inclusion, it still needs to be clarified to identify what factors are responsible for the diverse trend of financial inclusion in the forty-five Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 1999 to 2024. The main rationale of the study empirically investigated these determinants of financial inclusion in forty-five Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 1999 to 2024, which covers three distinct periods: which is the pre-COVID, 2020–2022 is the COVID period, and the post-COVID period from 2023 onward, but examined as a whole from 1999 to 2024 for easy policy formulation for SSA countries. The study was anchored on two main research objectives: firstly, to examine the factors influencing financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in these three distinct periods, and lastly, to present the policy implications of the result of these factors in enhancing financial inclusion in the post-COVID era in SSA. The study used the Panel Least Squares (PLS) technique in the data analysis. The result revealed that economic growth (GRO), Islamic banking (ISMAIC), money supply (MSS), internet users (USERS), and credit availability (CREDIT) positively and significantly enhance financial inclusion with coefficients of 0.001298, 4.926809, 1.08 × 10−6, 0.459388, and 0.657431, respectively, with significant p-values of 0.0008, 0.0023, 0.0000, 0.0000, and 0.000, respectively. On the flip side, internet servers (SERVER) have a negative coefficient value of 4.63 × 10−6 with a p-value of 0.000. Though inflation (INFL) and interest rate (INT.) have negative coefficient values of −0.02853 and −0.08317, they have insignificant p-value impacts of 0.2841 and 0.2501, respectively. The result indicates that many of the variables have a significant impact on financial inclusion. This is shown from the probabilities of the t statistics of each of the independent variables in the estimated model, which are significant at the 5% level. The policy implications of these results include the following: firstly, SSA governments should promote economic growth through investment in productive sectors, infrastructure development, and job creation programs to indirectly improve financial inclusion. Secondly, SSA countries’ policymakers should maintain price stability through sound monetary and fiscal policies to ensure inflation does not hinder access to financial services. Thirdly, SSA countries’ governments and central banks should promote lower interest rates and enhance credit accessibility, especially for marginalized groups, through subsidized loans and targeted credit schemes. Fourthly, policymakers should support the expansion of Islamic finance by improving regulatory frameworks and increasing awareness about Sharia-compliant financial products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Financial Inclusion Strategies: Emerging Trends and Global Perspectives)
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