Influence of Mobile Banking Services on Financial Inclusion among Selected Commercial Banks in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Agency banking has become an important approach towards financial inclusion, especially in underserved and remote regions. This research examined how mobile banking services have influenced financial inclusion among selected commercial banks in the Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Adopting the Agency Theory, the study adopted a correlational research design and was entirely quantitative. The target population was 1,219 agency banking outlets of three commercial banks in Uasin Gishu, namely KCB Bank, Equity Bank, and Cooperative Bank. Stratified and simple random sampling methods were used to select 291 agents as the sample size, based on the Krejcie and Morgan table. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire, and the response rate was 91.1%. Descriptive (including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations) and inferential (linear regression and multiple regression) statistics were applied to analyse data. The results of simple linear regression indicated that mobile banking services correlated strongly with financial inclusion (r = 0.682, R² = 0.465, p < 0.001). The study concluded that effective mobile banking services play a significant role in financial inclusion. The study provides empirical evidence on how agency banking, specifically mobile banking, strategies enhance financial inclusion, offering policymakers and financial institutions evidence-based recommendations to improve accessibility, affordability, and efficiency in banking services for underserved populations.