Purpose This study examines the impact of public policy instruments – namely national financial inclusion strategies, national financial education strategies (NFES) and consumer protection frameworks – on the adoption of digital financial services, with a particular focus on mobile money and gender disparities in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach To investigate this relationship, we employ an econometric model based on microeconomic data from the 2017 and 2025 Global Findex reports and the Global Financial Inclusion and Consumer Protection Survey from 2017 and 2021. Findings Our findings confirm that mobile money adoption may be shaped by a complex combination of demographic characteristics, regulatory frameworks and national strategies, with distinct patterns across gender, education levels and regions. Overall, our analysis reveals several key factors associated with mobile money account ownership. Being female, having higher levels of education and belonging to a higher income quintile are all positively and significantly linked to ownership. Among policy variables, the presence of a NFES shows the strongest positive association, highlighting the potential role of education in promoting financial inclusion. Originality/value Our study offers a novel, intersectional analysis of mobile money adoption by jointly examining demographic, regulatory and strategic factors. It uniquely highlights the differentiated effects of policies such as NFES and Financial Consumer Protection (FCP) across gender, education and regions. Unlike prior research, we find that NFES have a consistently positive association, while FCP may unintentionally hinder adoption – especially among women and the highly educated. By revealing these nuanced dynamics and advocating for context-specific, gender-sensitive strategies, our work contributes new insights into how inclusive digital financial ecosystems can be built through aligned regulatory and educational interventions.
Gruber et al. (Mon,) studied this question.