The Impact of Fin-Tech Applications on Financial Inclusion: The Mediating Role of Banking Awareness and the Moderating Role of Business Models

Abstract

Financial technology (FinTech) is changing the way financial services work by making them easier to use, faster, and cheaper (Ediagbonya & Tioluwani, 2023). Financial inclusion remains an important issue in the developing economies, with many individuals and small businesses lacking access to formal savings, credit, insurance, and secure payment services. Financial inclusion remains a significant issue in the developing economies, with many individuals and small businesses missing access to formal savings, credit, insurance, and secure payment services. Consumers' adoptions to use and accept digital financial services depend on how aware and well-informed they are. Business models that focus on price, usability, and security can help reach people who aren't already using them (Hassan, 2024; Mentari & Ilfitriah,2018; Philippon, 2019). This study employs Smart-PLS (PLS-SEM) to evaluate measurement reliability and validity, while estimating structural correlations, including mediation and moderation effects (Hair et al, 2021). The findings prove that Fin-Tech applications meaningfully impact financial inclusion, with banking awareness helping as a partial mediator of this link, while business modeling improves the FinTech-to-inclusion effect.