Abstract
Fintech has the potential of promoting financial inclusion in terms of secured digital payments, financing, InsureTech, and investments through crowdfunding and P2P lending to unserved or less served businesses, start-ups, and segments of the population. Fintech is deployed using the latest technologies such as big data analytics, clouds, Internet of Things, blockchain, and artificial intelligence to provide highly secured, instant, easy-to-access, easy-to-use, low-cost, and finally more customer-centric financial services and products. For Fintech to boost Islamic financial inclusion, shariah compatibility in the applications is necessary. Empirical evidence shows that Pakistan is a highly financially exclusive country. This study provides an overview of financial inclusion and digital finance status in Pakistan, a comparative analysis of information and communication technologies (ICT) environment, and Pakistan’s performance in ICTs. This study elucidates the potential of Fintech applications and proposes a pragmatic scheme to develop a Fintech ecosystem capable of achieving the goal of financial inclusion in Pakistan.
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Ali, H., Abdullah, R. (2020). Fintech and Financial Inclusion in Pakistan: An Exploratory Study. In: Elzahi Saaid Ali, A., Ali, K., Khaleequzzaman, M. (eds) Enhancing Financial Inclusion through Islamic Finance, Volume I. Palgrave Studies in Islamic Banking, Finance, and Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39935-1_9
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