Analisis Pemanfaatan Aplikasi Fintech Terhadap Inklusi Keuangan Masyarakat: Suatu Kajian Pustaka

Abstract

Financial technology (fintech) applications are changing how people access payments, savings, credit, investment, and other financial services. Digital services may reduce distance and cost barriers and reach groups underserved by formal institutions. However, owning a smartphone or digital account does not automatically produce meaningful inclusion if users cannot understand fees, use services safely, or access products suited to their needs. This article analyzes how fintech application use relates to financial inclusion by reviewing mechanisms, benefits, disparities, risks, and policy prerequisites. The narrative literature review covers academic publications, international institutional reports, official Indonesian survey data, regulatory documentation, and consumer-protection sources. The literature indicates a multidimensional relationship: digital payments may serve as an entry point to formal transactions; digital credit may expand financing access while also increasing over-indebtedness risk; and digital savings, microinsurance, and investment require adequate product understanding and safeguards. Indonesia’s 2024 National Survey on Financial Literacy and Inclusion reported a 75.02% financial inclusion index, but this aggregate figure does not isolate the effect of fintech applications. Geography, gender, age, literacy, connectivity, and service quality shape who benefits. Fintech is therefore an enabling channel rather than a substitute for infrastructure, consumer protection, literacy, and sound governance. Impact assessment should distinguish access, active use, quality, affordability, and user welfare.