From access to functional inclusion: a realist review of digital finance and territorial inequalities in Brazil

Purpose Digital finance is widely promoted as a scalable pathway to financial inclusion in emerging markets, yet outcomes remain uneven across territories and social groups. This paper synthesizes empirical evidence from Brazil to explain how and under which conditions digital expansion produces functional inclusion or reinforces new forms of exclusion. Design/methodology/approach A realist review, based on context–mechanism–outcome logic, synthesizes evidence from 24 peer-reviewed empirical studies retrieved from Scopus, with searches conducted on 30 September 2025. Findings are interpreted through mechanism-based configurations linking territorial conditions, user capability and service delivery arrangements. Findings The synthesis distinguishes formal inclusion, understood as access, from functional inclusion, understood as effective, autonomous and safe use. It identifies four recurrent mechanisms shaping uneven outcomes: inclusion that excludes, vulnerable trust, unequal infrastructure and mediated disintermediation. Together, these mechanisms explain why expanded digital access can coexist with constrained use, dependency and heightened vulnerability in rural and peripheral territories. Practical implications The findings support territorially sensitive digital finance strategies, including hybrid service delivery, accessible consumer support and dispute resolution, monitoring of functional inclusion indicators, and capability-building in low-connectivity contexts. Originality/value Rather than treating adoption or account ownership as inclusion, the paper develops a mechanism-based framework explaining Brazil’s digital inclusion paradox. It contributes to emerging market finance research by showing how institutional arrangements, territorial infrastructures and user capabilities interact to produce functional inclusion or exclusion.