Understanding Mobile Payment Acceptance and Financial Inclusion Among Semi-Skilled Urban Workers in India

Abstract

Mobile payment adoption has proliferated in developing economies, but there is variation in its take-up among low-income urban wage workers. This paper explores the determinants of mobile payment adoption amongst semi-skilled workers in Delhi NCR, which constitutes an underbanked segment and experiences challenges to digital inclusion as well. A total of 312 blue collar workers in construction, transport, repair and small services were surveyed, and the data were analysed using factor extraction and PLS-SEM to identify how perceived usefulness, ease of use, trust and perceived risk influenced intention to adopt. The results indicate that usefulness and trust were the most significant predictors of intention, with ease of use assuming a more marginal role. There is risk perception, but not enough to significantly affect willingness to adopt. On the whole, these findings indicate that workers are more sensitive to structured rewards and transaction security than to user interface simplicity. The study underlines the requirement of directed trust-building activities and support for digital literacy in order to enhance the financial inclusion of semi-skilled urban people.