Determinants of Cashless Transaction Adoption among Rural Communities in Malaysia: An Empirical Study

This study investigates factors influencing the adoption of cashless transactions in rural Malaysian communities, focusing on four key determinants: infrastructure and connectivity, digital literacy, user-friendly interface design, and local merchant acceptance.Data were collected from 258 rural residents via a structured survey, and multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between these factors and individuals' propensity to adopt cashless payment methods.The results reveal that infrastructure and connectivity ( 0.17, p < 0.01), digital literacy ( 0.34, p < 0.001), and user-friendly interfaces ( 0.21, p < 0.01) each have a significant positive effect on the likelihood of adopting cashless payments.By contrast, local merchant acceptance ( 0.03, p = 0.678) did not show a significant influence on adoption.The study's cross-sectional design and convenience sampling limit the generalizability of the findings, as rural communities can differ widely in infrastructure and culture.Nonetheless, the results suggest that initiatives to enhance rural digital infrastructure, improve residents' digital literacy, and design intuitive, easy-to-use payment interfaces will be more effective in promoting cashless transaction uptake than efforts focusing solely on increasing merchant acceptance.This study provides empirical evidence and insights to guide policies and strategies aimed at advancing digital financial inclusion in rural areas.