MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTING REVIEW, VOLUME 25 NO. 2, AUGUST 2026
Assessing the Impact of Fintech Development on Financial Inclusion in the Mena Region: Evidence from Panel Data Models
Eya Abidi1 and Syrine Ben Romdhane2*
1Economics and Industrial Management Lab., Ecole Polytechnique, Université de Tunis Carthage, Tunis, Tunisie
2Department of Business and Accounting, BESTMOD Lab., Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, Université de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisie
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the transitional impact of bank-led FinTech adoption on financial inclusion using a panel of 253 commercial banks across the MENA region from 2008 to 2022. Employing both static models and a System GMM estimator, the findings reveal that, in the short to medium term, digital transaction expansion significantly enhances the density of physical banking infrastructure, supporting the omnichannel complementarity perspective. Increased digital payment activity promotes credit penetration by reducing information asymmetries between banks and borrowers. Although static estimations suggest a positive relationship between FinTech and account ownership, dynamic estimations indicate a negative long-run elasticity. This contrasting result highlights a structural substitution effect, whereby advanced FinTech ecosystems increasingly shift financial activity away from traditional bank accounts toward mobile-first and decentralized payment platforms. The results demonstrate that FinTech affects financial inclusion unevenly across its dimensions and underscore the need for transaction-oriented regulatory frameworks and hybrid banking strategies to foster sustainable financial inclusion in the MENA region.
Keywords:
FinTech
Financial inclusion
Digital payments
Banking
Access
Credit
*Corresponding Author.
E-mail address: syrine.benromdhane@essect.rnu.tn