Amplifying digital financial inclusion for small businesses: in search of a taxonomy of Public Development Banks and fintech collaboration

Digital financial inclusion is the digital access to and use of quality formal financial services by the underserved segments of society, like poor individuals and small businesses. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) suffer from credit restrictions to grow and even survive. Public Development Banks (PDBs) are actors that foster the digital financial inclusion of those small enterprises, mostly using credit. PDBs are collaborating with fintech to reach out to MSMEs in various ways. However, there are scarce academic studies on this subject. Thus, driving in Brazil and India contexts, we propose the development of a taxonomy to explain the collaboration between PDBs and fintech to support MSMEs. This study can bring an original academic contribution to understanding this phenomenon better, and contribute to practice by helping policymakers, international financial inclusion organizations, and PDBs in developing countries that may consider partnering with fintech to help accomplish their mission.