FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: THE ROLE OF DIGITAL PAYMENTS AND SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

The primary research database in the paper is the Global Findex 2021 which contains the data of 143,420 adults from 139 countries. The paper mainly focuses on the examination of the interaction between financial inclusion, digital payments, and economic resilience. Moreover, the paper focuses on: (1) the identification of socio-demographic factors that determine bank account ownership, (2) understanding the differences between countries in digital payment method adoption, and (3) gauging the preparedness of households to economic shocks. Logistic regression, t-tests, and comparative analyses have been used in this study, which aims to offer a multi-dimensional perspective on how finance and technology can be leveraged for inclusive growth, especially in the post-COVID-19 scenario. The findings indicate that the level of education (β=0.4565), income, and digital access are the major contributors to bank account ownership, however, financial literacy is the strongest differentiator.; There is a statistically significant difference in the usage of digital payment between high- and low-income countries (T=8.3047, p