Low-income consumers’ disposition to use automated banking services

Automated banking services rely on the so-called fintech technologies. These technologies, however, represent an opportunity to enhance financial inclu­sion indicators among low-income customers. This paper aims to develop a new conceptual framework to analyse low-income consumers’ disposition to use automated banking services. The work consists of an omnibus study conducted in eight major cities of Colombia. A survey aiming to measure the disposition to use auto­mated banking services as a function of technology disposition provided by bank firms was developed and validated with a sample of 483 Colombian low-income residents. An exploratory analysis was applied, estimating items variance and co-variance matrices. Sampling adequacy and assumption evaluation were evaluated through the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test, Tau-equivalence test, and homogeneous items test. Robust parameters were estimated via Structural Equation Modelling following the standards of reproducible research. Statistical, robust, and significant relation­ ships between technology disposition and use of automated banking services in low-income Colombian consumers were confirmed, suggesting the potential success of deploying these services as a means to boost financial inclusion in this segment. This study provides fresh conceptual insights on low-income customers’ disposition to adopt and use ever-changing technologies for the financial and banking sector. It is among the first empirical studies that provide empirical evi­dence that breaks the stereotype that low-income customers are reluctant to use new technologies in the financial sector.