Nexus of Intelligent Financial Inclusion and Sustainability: Leveraging Fintech Innovations to Overcome Barriers to Financial Inclusion

Financial inclusion is the provision of affordable, customized, and easy to use financial products and services to all the segments of society. It is an enabler of sustainable development goals that target sustainable development of economies. Nevertheless, numerous barriers within the financial sector impede the attainment of an optimal level of financial inclusion, and a significant gap remains in the development of effective solutions. This research article aims to identify and classify all the barriers and place them in a conceptual matrix of barriers to financial inclusion. This matrix provides a view of all the barriers to financial inclusion and provide a distinct insight to work on their mitigation. Furthermore, this research proposes and provides conceptual demonstration on the concept of intelligent financial inclusion, which leverages intelligent technologies to address these barriers by using fuzzy inference mechanism. Analytical results of fuzzy logic demonstrate the implementation of AI tools and other cognitive technologies into national financial infrastructures. The study informs policymakers for the modernization of financial systems, enhanced decision-making, and increase access for underserved populations to financial sector. Research provides support for intelligent financial inclusion and highlights its alignment with the United Nations’ 2030 agenda for sustainable development.