[ 8th September 2022 by Jiayu Zhang 0 Comments ]

The pyrrhic victory of FinTech and its implications for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: evidence from fieldwork in rural Zambia, Sydney Chikalipah

Sydney Chikalipah
Department of Finance Tax, Faculty of Commerce
University of Cape Town, Cape Town
South Africa
Email: chksyd002@myuct.ac.za

DOI: 10.1108/WJSTSD-06-2020-0058

Purpose: This study investigates the possible effect of mobile money services, which forms part of FinTech, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Design/methodology/approach: This study uses field data from the Chongwe district of Zambia. The data were collected in 2019.
Findings: The findings strongly suggest that (1) the factors that hinder access to credit and savings by the poor do not simply recede following the adoption of mobile money services and (2) that mobile money is not a silver bullet of ending financial exclusion but merely a tool which contributes to other financial inclusion strategies.
Practical implications: This study argues that mobile money is winning the battle but losing the war – implying that the service is mainly used to transfer funds (OTC transactions) among users.
Originality/value: This is the first study to have been conducted in Zambia to assess the possible contributing effect of FinTech (mobile money) on SDGs.
Keywords: Financial inclusion; FinTech; Mobile money; Sustainable development goals; Zambia.
Citation: Chikalipah, S. (2020), "The pyrrhic victory of FinTech and its implications for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: evidence from fieldwork in rural Zambia", World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 329-340. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-06-2020-0058

WJSTSD V17 N4 2020 Chikalipah.pdf
WJSTSD V17 N4 2020 Chikalipah.pdf
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