Implikasi Digital Payment QRIS terhadap Kinerja UMKM Wilayah Pedesaan melalui Inklusi Keuangan

This study aims to examine the role of financial inclusion as a mediating variable in the relationship between QRIS digital payments and MSME performance. A quantitative approach was adopted, involving 50 MSME owners in rural Central Java selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using a 1–5 Likert scale questionnaire and analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) method with SmartPLS software (version 4.1.1.8). The findings reveal two key insights. First, QRIS digital payments have a significant direct impact on MSME performance. Second, QRIS digital payments exert a positive and significant influence on MSME performance when mediated by financial inclusion. Thus, financial inclusion acts as a bridge connecting QRIS digital payments with MSME performance in rural areas. This study enriches the literature on the digital transformation of rural MSMEs, an area that remains under-researched, while offering practical implications for business owners, digital payment service providers, and policymakers in designing strategies to strengthen financial inclusion and boost the performance of rural MSMEs.