HOW DOES MOBILE BANKING CONTRIBUTE TO FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN EMERGING ECONOMIES?

A society in which economics is a tool to improve people’s quality of life and equity for all peoples has to be financially inclusive at a fundamental level. This paper delves into the meaning of financial inclusion and investigates mobile banking as a resource to that end. Mobile banking is a transformative, building block force in financial inclusion; in the case of emerging economies where it is far more ubiquitously available, traditional banking infrastructure presence is very limited. Through a literature review and research approach, this study investigates how mobile banking is used in bridging financial gaps for low income population, rural population and micro entrepreneurs. The findings indicate that mobile banking has a large impact on financial access, economic participation and digital financial literacy. But there are still structural barriers to achieving financial inclusion like gender inequalities, digital illiteracy, cybersecurity dangers and inconsistent regulatory frameworks. These can be addressed via stronger consumer protection policies, more fintech-government collaboration as well as more fintech minded financial education programs. The main contribution of this paper is to add to the conversation on digital financial inclusion and policy recommendations on how to make mobile banking more accessible. Future research should further concentrate on the long term effects on the socioeconomic dimensions, integration of AI and blockchain in the domain of digital banking and finally on specific region based regulatory frameworks for achieving better financial inclusion.