The geography of fintech-related financial harm: a multilevel analysis in the UK

Fintech is often presented as leading to greater financial inclusion, but it also creates new opportunities for exploitative financial practices. This paper examines how individual characteristics and local financial infrastructure are associated with fintech-related financial harm in the UK, addressing the limited attention paid to their interaction within financial-victimisation research. The analysis combines survey data from 1415 individuals with Local Authority-level data on financial infrastructures. Two-level logistic random-intercept models are estimated for overall financial harm and separately for unauthorised fraud, deceptive scams and predatory practices. Advanced fintech users – those using digital financial services beyond conventional online banking – are more likely to report victimisation, whereas financial literacy reduces the likelihood of financial harm. Overconfidence in financial capability and greater trust in the transparency of fintech providers are also associated with a higher likelihood of financial harm. At the regional level, the association between local financial infrastructure and financial harm differs by age: greater bank service-point density is associated with lower financial harm among younger adults, whereas greater building-society density is associated with lower financial harm among older adults. The findings show that the geography of finance shapes not only access to financial services, but also the uneven distribution of financial harm.