Assessing Financial Exclusion in Rural India: The Role of FinTech in Driving Inclusion

Abstract

Financial inclusion is a crucial driver of economic development, enabling individuals to access essential financial services, manage risks, and invest in their future. However, rural India continues to face financial exclusion due to inadequate banking infrastructure, digital illiteracy, and systemic barriers. Financial Technology is a disruptive technology that has challenged the whole system of traditional banking, enabling banking at hand through mobiles and other digital platforms. The study measures the financial inclusion of rural communities. For that, a village named Kotputli-Behror district of Rajasthan state was chosen, and data were collected through a questionnaire to check the access and viability of financial services and FinTech services, respectively. Thus, this research investigates first the availability and access to financial services and the transformative impact of FinTech innovations, such as mobile wallets and digital payment platforms, in addressing the financial exclusion challenges faced by rural communities. Employing a qualitative methodology, the study utilizes structured surveys to assess traditional banking penetration, financial accessibility, and FinTech adoption patterns. The findings reveal that FinTech has significantly enhanced financial access, particularly for younger demographics and women, thereby bridging the financial divide. However, despite this progress, challenges persist, including inadequate infrastructure, digital literacy gaps, and gender disparities. To overcome these hurdles, the study underscores the imperative need for targeted policy interventions, digital literacy programs, and infrastructure development to amplify FinTech’s potential in fostering inclusive and sustainable financial ecosystems in rural India.

Received: 4 March 2025 | Revised: 5 June 2025 | Accepted: 12 June 2025

Conflicts of Interest 

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support this work are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Author Contribution Statement

Barkha Rani: Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration. Chandan Singh Dochania: Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization.