RT Journal Article
T1 Digital Financial Inclusion and Financial Vulnerability: An Exploratory Analysis of Spanish Households
A1 Álvarez Espiño, Marcos
A1 Fernández López, Sara
A1 Rey-Ares, Lucía
A1 Rodríguez-Gulías, María Jesús
K1 Financial inclusion
K1 Digitalization
K1 Financial fragility
K1 Household finances
AB Public authorities have increasingly focused on digital financial inclusion (DFI) owing to its potential to enhance overall financial inclusion (FI) and, ultimately, to mitigate households’ financial vulnerability (FV). Although the existing literature generally reports a negative relationship between DFI and FV, most studies focus on economically less developed countries and apply heterogeneous measurement approaches. This study adopts a quantitative methodology to assess DFI as a potential determinant of FV in a developed economy—Spain—using both objective and subjective indicators of FV. DFI is proxied by the diversity of payment and transfer methods conducted via Internet and mobile devices. Empirical findings confirm a negative association between DFI and FV, indicating that higher levels of digital engagement are associated with lower FV. However, results also reveal a potential adverse effect on savings behaviour, possibly linked to the reduced “pain of paying” commonly associated with online transactions. These insights suggest that policies promoting DFI should be complemented by initiatives to enhance financial literacy, strengthen consumer protection laws, and reintroduce the “feel of cashback” within online payment platforms. By providing evidence from a developed country, this paper contributes to the limited literature by also examining subjective measures of FV variables and offline FI.
PB Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MPDI)
SN 1911-8074
YR 2026
FD 2026-03-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46444
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46444
LA eng
NO Álvarez-Espiño, M., Fernández-López, S., Rey-Ares, L., & Rodríguez-Gulías, M.J. (2026). “Digital Financial Inclusion and Financial Vulnerability: An Exploratory Analysis of Spanish Households”, Journal of Risk and Financial Management. 19(3), 175. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm19030175
DS Minerva
RD 24 may 2026