Digitizing Social Protection: User Perceptions and Adoption Barriers in Tanzania's Productive Safety Net Programme

ABSTRACT As governments in developing countries digitize delivery of social cash transfers (SCTs), understanding beneficiaries' experiences is critical for inclusive access. Despite policy‐driven efforts, adoption of digital payments in SCT programs (SCTPs) remains limited, and evidence on user experiences is scarce. This study examines beneficiaries' perceptions and preferences regarding payment mechanisms (PMs) in Tanzania's Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) program, guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Using a mixed‐methods design, survey data from 385 respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mode and percentage distributions) and the Kruskal–Wallis test was used to examine whether perceptions differed significantly across PMs. In addition, focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to complement the quantitative analysis. Perceptions were assessed across five dimensions: accessibility, convenience, transactional privacy, safety, and time efficiency. The Kruskal–Wallis results indicate statistically significant variation in beneficiaries' perceptions across all PMs for all perception attributes. Mobile payments were perceived most favorably (mode 4; 76.1%), bank transfers received moderate ratings (mode 4; 66.3%), and physical cash scored lowest (mode 3; 56.7%). Despite lower perception scores, physical cash remained the most preferred method, especially among older beneficiaries. By providing context‐specific evidence from a policy‐mandated digitalization setting, the study informs the design of inclusive, user‐centered payment systems and targeted digital literacy interventions.