Title: A study to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on digital financial services and digital financial inclusion in India

Authors: Mohd Shafeeq; Sana Beg

Addresses: Department of Management, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, India ' Department of Management, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, India

Abstract: It is crucial to conjecture the consequences of the COVID-19 for an economy, to plan its policy and guidelines at present, and to prepare itself for the future. In the finance world it is suggested by health experts to use more and more digital financial services (DFSs). Thus in this paper, we will try to understand the impact of COVID-19 on DFS and digital financial inclusion in India. This research suggests that the impact of COVID-19 is negative on financial inclusion, whereas some DFS were impacted positively. While some DFS have faced the negative as well as neutral impact during this pandemic. Overall it is concluded that the impact on DFS is neutral to date, but with time and with the opening up of an economy, the status of DFS is expected to improve, which in turn will improve the status of digital financial inclusion in India in the future.

Keywords: corona virus impact; COVID-19 pandemic; digital financial services; DFSs; financial inclusion; digital financial inclusion.

DOI: 10.1504/AJAAF.2021.119206

African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, 2021 Vol.7 No.4, pp.326 - 345

Received: 28 Sep 2020
Accepted: 17 May 2021
Published online: 29 Nov 2021 *

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