Influence of Digital Finance Platforms on Financial Inclusion in Mombasa County, Kenya

Financial inclusion involves increasing the number of individuals that have access to formal financial services mainly through having formal bank accounts, which contributes to poverty reduction and economic growth. An inclusive financial system is desirable and will provide opportunities for all people, particularly the poor, to access and move funds, grow capital, and reduce risk. The study sought to determine the influence of digital financing platforms on financial inclusion in Mombasa County. Theories anchoring this study include Financial Intermediation Theory, Finance growth theory and Informational asymmetric. The research population for this study was regional managers of the commercial banks in Kenya, which are licensed and regulated by the Central bank of Kenya. Data collection instruments included questionnaires. In this research the questionnaire were accompanied by a list of anticipant’s answers where the respondents selected the best answerers that described the situation. The said questionnaires were administered directly to responsible officers. The data presentation was done using the both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. They include the mean, standard deviation, percentages and tables. Multiple regression analysis was used to establish the influence of digital finance on financial inclusion in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study results shows a strong positive correlation coefficient of 0.761 between digital financing platform and digital financial inclusion which is statistically significant (p<0.05). Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that Board and management of commercial banks in Mombasa County, Kenya should digitalize their banks and provide proper, appropriate and timely direction in financing their commercial banks through digitalization to enable them improve on their overall financial inclusion for effective and efficient financial service delivery to customers. Management and leadership of commercial banks Mombasa County should emphasis more on the digital finance aspects that had the highest mean such as “Online brokerage has influence on financial inclusion in my organization” in order to achieve and improve on their financial inclusion. Further research studies can build on the findings of this study to broaden the existing knowledge on the influence of digital finance on financial inclusion of commercial banks in Mombasa County, Kenya. Keywords: Digital Finance, Financial Inclusion