Sidharth Singh
Fintech has become an important instrument for achieving inclusive development outcomes in emerging markets by advancing financial inclusion through technologies such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the India Stack, and the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2019-2024. Despite the rapid spread of fintech solutions, with UPI processing 172 billion transactions worth INR 247 trillion in 2024 alone, uneven adoption, persistent digital divides, and emerging risks raise the question of whether fintech genuinely promotes inclusive economic development or merely extends the reach of existing financial services. This paper provides a comprehensive review of scholarly work on fintech adoption and financial inclusion in India between 2010 and early 2026. It develops a conceptual framework linking digital public infrastructure, fintech adoption, financial inclusion, and inclusive development; examines Indian and cross-country empirical evidence; analyses bibliometric and thematic trends in the literature; and proposes a forward-looking research and policy agenda. The Financial Inclusion Index of the Reserve Bank of India rose from 43.4 in March 2017 to 67.0 in March 2025, yet these gains conceal significant heterogeneity across regions, genders, and enterprise sizes. Future research should establish causal links between fintech initiatives and inclusive development, address risks such as over-indebtedness, algorithmic bias, and data privacy, and pursue comparative South-South studies.
Fintech; Financial Inclusion; Inclusive Economic Development; UPI; India Stack; Digital Public Infrastructure; PMJDY