Business digital transformation: Innovation, financial security, and inclusive growth – evidence from Ukraine

The accelerated diffusion of digital technologies during the 2015-2025 period substantially transformed global economic systems, intensifying the integration of automation, data analytics, and digital financial services into business processes while simultaneously increasing exposure to cybersecurity risks, regulatory fragmentation, and social inequality. In economies undergoing structural transformation, ensuring that digital innovation supports both financial security and inclusive growth emerged as a pressing scientific and policy challenge. The purpose of this study was to identify and substantiate effective pathways of business digital transformation that simultaneously strengthened financial security and promoted inclusive access to digital financial services. To achieve this objective, the research applied a mixed methodological framework combining systemic and institutional analysis, comparative analysis, statistical and correlation modelling, and analytical synthesis of international and national datasets derived from the World Bank, the National Bank of Ukraine, and OECD analytical frameworks. The results demonstrated that the expansion of digital financial technologies was strongly associated with higher levels of institutional stability and economic resilience. Empirical evidence from Ukraine for the 2022-2024 period showed that the number of active payment cards increased by more than 10%, while the share of cashless transactions exceeded 90%, indicating a rapid diffusion of digital payment instruments. The widespread adoption of Near Field Communication technologies, tokenised payment cards, and cloud-based financial services contributed to faster transaction processing, enhanced transparency, and improved protection of financial data. At the same time, the analysis identified persistent risks and barriers related to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, regulatory misalignment, and uneven digital inclusion across population groups, particularly in rural areas and among individuals with limited digital literacy. These findings confirmed that digitalisation generated both efficiency gains and new configurations of financial and institutional risks. The practical significance of the results lies in their applicability for policymakers, financial regulators, and business managers in designing coordinated digitalisation strategies that integrate technological innovation with cybersecurity standards, regulatory coherence, and inclusive financial development