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Who Are the Users of Digital Innovation for Financial Inclusion? The Case of M-Shwari

In emerging economies, digital innovation has become a driving force of financial inclusion and socioeconomic development. However, who are the users? This simple yet crucial question has often been neglected. This paper argues that in order for a digital innovation for financial inclusion to generate expected outcomes, we need to examine whether the users are the intended users. This paper explores this issue by examining one particular instance—M-Shwari—the mobile-based digital savings service, which is intended to bank the unbanked, low-income population in rural areas in Kenya. In contrast to the expectation, the findings show that M-Shwari is likely to be used by high-income households in urban areas, who are already banked. This paper contributes to the emerging digital innovation and financial inclusion literature by calling for further research toward users in this particular context.