Álvarez Espiño, MarcosFernández López, SaraRey-Ares, LucíaRodríguez-Gulías, María Jesús2026-03-202026-03-202026-03-01Álvarez-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/jrfm190301751911-8074https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46444Public 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.eng© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Financial inclusionDigitalizationFinancial fragilityHousehold finances531102 Gestión financierajournal article10.3390/jrfm19030175open access