FinTech-driven financial inclusion and market efficiency in developing countries: Digital access, financial intermediation, developmental outcomes and institutional conditions

This paper examines the relationship between FinTech, financial inclusion and market efficiency in developing countries through a structured review of the recent literature. The analysis focuses on three main dimensions: the contribution of digital financial technologies to the expansion of financial inclusion, their effects on the efficiency and organization of financial markets, and their broader developmental, distributive and institutional consequences. The reviewed studies show that mobile money, digital payments, alternative lending platforms and data-driven financial services can reduce geographical, informational and transaction-cost barriers that limit access to conventional financial systems. FinTech can also improve credit allocation, accelerate financial transactions and strengthen competition and complementarity between traditional banks and technological providers. However, these effects remain conditional on digital infrastructure, financial literacy, institutional quality, regulation and users’ capacity to adopt and use digital services effectively. The literature further indicates that digital financial inclusion can support economic growth, entrepreneurship, household welfare and formalization, while also generating risks related to financial vulnerability, data governance, cybersecurity, market concentration and unequal access. The paper concludes that FinTech can contribute to more inclusive and efficient financial systems when technological innovation is accompanied by appropriate institutional, regulatory and social conditions