FINTECH AND INVESTMENT RISK: UNDERSTANDING RISK-TAKING AMONG YOUNG DIGITAL INVESTORS

Purpose: This study examined whether access to financial technology (FinTech) platforms shapes the financial risk-taking of retail investors through their investment confidence, and whether financial literacy changes the strength of these relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on social cognitive theory and the technology acceptance perspective, a moderated mediation model was tested with survey data from 412 retail investors in Pakistan who used mobile trading, digital brokerage or online mutual fund platforms. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied in SmartPLS 4. Findings: FinTech accessibility increased investment confidence, and investment confidence in turn increased financial risk-taking. Investment confidence partially mediated the effect of FinTech accessibility on financial risk-taking. Financial literacy strengthened the link between FinTech accessibility and investment confidence, but it weakened the link between investment confidence and financial risk-taking, which suggests that literate investors gain more confidence from digital access yet rely less on that confidence when they decide how much risk to take. Originality/value: The study places investment confidence at the centre of the FinTech and risk-taking relationship and shows that financial literacy plays two different roles at two different stages of the process. The results offer guidance to platform designers, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and financial educators who aim to widen participation without encouraging uninformed risk. Keywords: FinTech accessibility; investment confidence; financial literacy; financial risk-taking; retail investors.