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{"id":22989,"date":"2026-10-08T10:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/?p=22989"},"modified":"2026-10-08T10:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:10:15","slug":"financial-inclusion-of-rural-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/financial-inclusion-of-rural-areas\/","title":{"rendered":"Kushnir S., Batrakova T. Financial Inclusion of Rural Areas through Digitalization"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: auto; border: solid 1px white!important;\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: solid 1px white!important;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right; border: solid 1px white!important;\"><b>DOI<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.31521\/modecon.V58(2026)-23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.31521\/modecon.V58(2026)-23<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<b>Kushnir Svitlana, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doctor of Economics, Professor, Professor of the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Zaporizhzhia National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>ORCID:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1410-1887\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">0000-0002-1410-1887<\/span><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>e-mail: <\/strong><a href=\"mailto:Svetlanaak@ukr.net\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Svetlanaak@ukr.net<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Batrakova Tetiana, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PhD (Economics), Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Zaporizhzhia National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>ORCID:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5710-9416\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">0000-0002-5710-9416<\/span><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>e-mail: <\/strong><a href=\"mailto:tanyabat16@gmail.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tanyabat16@gmail.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Financial Inclusion of Rural Areas through Digitalization<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Abstract. Introduction. <\/em><\/strong><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The article considers the issue of using modern digital technologies for access to banking services by residents of remote rural areas on an equal basis with city residents. A steady trend towards optimizing the operating costs of banking institutions has been identified, which directly results in a massive reduction in the network of physical offices in the regions. It has been established that in today&#8217;s conditions, digitalization acts not just as a technological trend, but as a fundamental tool for ensuring social and financial justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Purpose.<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The advantages of Internet banking and the &#8220;Diya&#8221; service for remote services have been described. The functional potential of Internet banking in the system of inclusion of rural areas has been analyzed. A comparative characteristic of traditional and digital models of banking services in rural areas has been conducted. The difference in the operating cost of traditional and digital services has been determined. The importance of security of operations has been established, but without excessive complication, given the large contingent of users &#8211; the elderly. The main advantages of digitalization have been analyzed, including saving client resources, transparency and security of operations, and minimization of errors.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Results.<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The difficulties that hinder digitalization in the village were separately investigated: technical barriers &#8211; poor internet, unstable communication, lack of 4G coverage in remote villages, as well as fear of fraudsters and lack of smartphone skills among the older generation.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Conclusions.<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The main barriers to digital financial inclusion in villages were identified, as well as ways to overcome them, since the development of digital services is not just a convenience, but a necessary condition for the development of rural communities, obtaining financial support for small and medium-sized businesses.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Keywords:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> financial inclusion, banking sector digitalization, rural areas, Internet banking, neobanks, digital literacy, financial services, remote verification, agricultural sector, financial gap, banking network, electronic payments<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>References<\/b>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. (2026). \u201cOn financial services and financial companies\u201d \u2116 1953-IX. https:\/\/zakon.rada.gov.ua\/laws\/show\/1953-20#Text.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Bank of Ukraine. (2020). Financial sector development strategy of Ukraine until 2025. https:\/\/bank.gov.ua\/ua\/about\/develop-strategy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hadzalo, Ya.M., Sabluk, P.T., Lupenko, Yu.O., Mesel-Veseliak, V.Ya. &amp; Fedorov, M.M. (2021). Agrarian reform in Ukraine, its scientific support, effectiveness. Ekonomika APK, 7, \u0440\u0440. 6 &#8211; 15. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.32317\/2221-1055.202107006.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naumenkova, S. , Mishchenko, S., &amp; Mishchenko, V. (2023). Digital financial inclusion to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development goals. Bulletin of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Economics, 1(1 (222), 102-112. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17721\/1728-2667.2023\/222-1\/13.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bereslavska, O. (2024). Transformation of banking services in the conditions of digitalization. Economy and Society, (60). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.32782\/2524-0072\/2024-60-99.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fiona Dias, S. N. R., &amp; Perera, K. L. W. (2026) Exploring the role of digital finance in advancing financial inclusion with challenges and future directions. Discover Sustainability. 7:205.\u00a0 https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s43621-026-02629-8.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Bank of Ukraine. Banking system and branch network statistics. https:\/\/bank.gov.ua.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. (2023). Digital literacy of the population of Ukraine: Analytical report. https:\/\/thedigital.gov.ua.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pazarbasioglu, C., Garcia Mora, A., Uttamchandani, M., Natarajan, H., Feyen, E., &amp; Saal, M. (2020). Digital financial services. World Bank. https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/topic\/financialsector\/publication\/digital-financial-services.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mookerjee, J., Bhuriya, K., Josphin, R., Radhakrishnan, G. V., &amp; Gurulingu, P. (2025). Digital banking and financial inclusion in rural economies. South Eastern European Journal of Public Health, 954\u2013963. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70135\/seejph.vi.3797.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wu, G., &amp; Peng, Q. (2024). Bridging the digital divide: Unraveling the determinants of FinTech adoption in rural communities. SAGE Open. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/21582440241227770.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Silva, K. N. N., &amp; Rasanjalee, P. H. N. (2025). Digital inclusion in the rural banking sector: Systematic literature review on enhancing financial access for farmers in developing countries. Sri Lankan Journal of Banking and Finance, 8(1), 21\u201342. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4038\/sljbf.v8i1.65.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>Received: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9 \u00a0July 2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><div class=\"sdm_download_item \"><div class=\"sdm_download_item_top\"><div class=\"sdm_download_thumbnail\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdm_download_thumbnail_image\" src=\"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/pdf.jpg\" alt = \"kushnir.pdf\" \/><\/div><div class=\"sdm_download_title\">kushnir.pdf<\/div><\/div><div style=\"clear:both;\"><\/div><div class=\"sdm_download_description\"><\/div><div class=\"sdm_download_size\"><span class=\"sdm_download_size_label\">Size: <\/span><span class=\"sdm_download_size_value\">1,35<\/span><\/div><div class=\"sdm_download_link\"><span class=\"sdm_download_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/?sdm_process_download=1&download_id=22909\" class=\"sdm_download blue\" title=\"kushnir.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Download Now!<\/a><\/span><span class=\"sdm_download_item_count\"><span class=\"sdm_item_count_number\">1<\/span><span class=\"sdm_item_count_string\"> Download<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"sdm_clear_float\"><\/div><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: auto;\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color: #1abc9c; text-transform: uppercase;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center; color: white; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 900; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0; padding: 13.5px;\">How to quote this article?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Kushnir S., Batrakova T. (2026). Financial Inclusion of Rural Areas through Digitalization. Modern Economics, 58(2026), 188-193. DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.31521\/modecon.V58(2026)-23.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1657628632157{margin-top: 10px !important;}&#8221;]<a href=\"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/issue-58-2026\/\">&lt;&lt; \u041f\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0443\u0442\u0438\u0441\u044f \u0434\u043e \u0437\u043c\u0456\u0441\u0442\u0443<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.31521\/modecon.V58(2026)-23 [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Kushnir Svitlana, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Professor of the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Zaporizhzhia National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine ORCID: 0000-0002-1410-1887 e-mail: Svetlanaak@ukr.net Batrakova Tetiana, PhD (Economics), Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, Zaporizhzhia National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine ORCID: 0000-0002-5710-9416 e-mail: tanyabat16@gmail.com Financial Inclusion of Rural<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/financial-inclusion-of-rural-areas\/\" class=\"more\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[262],"tags":[263],"class_list":["post-22989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-58-2026","tag-263"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22989"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22992,"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22989\/revisions\/22992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modecon.mnau.edu.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}