Financial Technology and the Financial Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria: Evidence from a Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Financial technology (FinTech) has expanded rapidly in Nigeria and is increasingly seen as a way to address persistent gaps in financial access. Yet the extent to which digital financial services translate into meaningful inclusion for women entrepreneurs remains poorly understood, particularly where financial literacy, infrastructure, location, and trust shape their ability to use available services. Purpose: This study examined how FinTech contributes to the financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria, with particular attention to the benefits associated with its use, factors influencing engagement, users' experiences and continuing barriers to effective participation. Method: A qualitative, interpretivist design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 47 participants, comprising 36 women entrepreneurs, 10 FinTech executives/providers and one Central Bank of Nigeria policymaker. Participants were purposively selected to capture perspectives from users, service providers and the regulatory environment. Interviews were analysed using narrative thematic analysis supported by NVivo. Results: FinTech expanded access to financial services through faster transactions, greater proximity to payment and cash services, less bureaucratic access to credit, savings functionality, reduced reliance on cash and income-generating opportunities associated with point-of-sale services. Engagement was strongly shaped by financial literacy, geographic location and perceived product efficiency. Important constraints remained, including unreliable telecommunications and electricity, limited smartphone capability, transaction costs, difficulties navigating digital services, slow complaint resolution, cybercrime and fake-transfer incidents. Trust was particularly important, with some women using FinTech for transactions while remaining reluctant to retain substantial business funds with providers lacking a physical presence. Conclusion: FinTech can widen financial opportunities for women entrepreneurs, but technological availability alone does not constitute meaningful financial inclusion. Effective inclusion depends on the capacity to use digital financial services independently, reliably, affordably and securely. The findings support a process-oriented conception of digital financial inclusion in which technological access interacts with individual capability, entrepreneurial agency and wider institutional and infrastructural conditions.