Abstract/Summary

Existing studies of financial inclusion focus on reflecting its availability and accessibility only. This paper fills this gap by identifying factors to evaluate digital financial inclusion, defined as the impact of technology on financial inclusion, from the users’ perspective. In 2019, Hong Kong launched eight virtual bank licenses with an aim to promote financial inclusion. It offers a suitable environment to address this issue. Results from 20 focus groups show that the intended usage of the virtual-only banking platform is affected by four thematic factors: namely: users’ sense of security; engagement of regulators; promotion of the social acceptance of technology; and transparency and history of bank operations. These factors should be embedded into the landscape of banking regulation through a digital financial inclusion index as a prompt indicator of the digital acceptance level. This will assist regulators to offer timely policies to adapt to the fast-changing bank digitisation process.