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Abstract

The advent of technology has led to significant changes in many facets of the economy, including financial services industry. To secure the future of financial services, there is a need to streamline it through digitalization. Thus, the focus of the current study is to examine and uncover the emerging trends through bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed publications on digital financial services (DFS) and also to highlight the research agenda and thrust areas that may be covered by prospective research studies. The current research study used performance analysis, bibliographic coupling, and co-occurrence analysis techniques to conduct a bibliometric analysis of research publications in the area of DFS. The articles were assessed and visualized utilizing VoSviewer user interface. Descriptive and visual representations were used to portray the discussions on citations, authors, and source contributions toward the evolution of financial services in the digital realm. The study also shed light on the innovations that have penetrated the financial sector, helping service providers and financial institutions to innovate traditional financial products and services and produce new ones with the help of blockchain, machine learning, and advanced analytics. Also, this article offers a comprehensive roadmap for further research as well as a broad perspective on the leading nations, authors, and publications in the field.

Keywords

Digital finance digital financial services Fintech financial services bibliometric

Introduction

The financial services industry plays a crucial role in fostering expansion and growth of the economy as this sector is the primary driver of a nation’s economy and encompasses various roles and functions such as it acts as an intermediary between savers and borrowers, provides capital, ensures liquidity, and assesses and manages the risk. The foundation of the sector is built on providing a range of services to individuals and companies, which includes banking and insurance services, tax and accounting services, financial analysis and investment services (Cote, 2022). The advent of technology has led to significant changes in many facets of the economy, including the financial services industry. To secure the future of financial services, there is a need to streamline it with digitalization. There are a lot of innovations that have penetrated the financial sector, helping the service providers and financial institutions to create innovative financial products and services through the use of blockchain technology, machine learning, and advanced analytics (Rahayu et al., 2022). Financial technology is a term describing the innovations driven by technology for improving the use and delivery of services to the consumers. Fintech services include e-money, peer-to-peer lending, cryptocurrency, crowdfunding, remittances, robo-advisors, and internet-based insurance services, to name a few (Bellucco, 2022; Rahayu et al., 2022). The digitalization of the financial landscape is indeed revolutionizing how financial services are delivered and consumed, impacting areas such as retail banking, investment, and payment services profoundly. This transformation not only increases the accessibility and efficiency of financial transactions but also requires individuals to improve their financial literacy and capability in the digital age. While digitalization offers users a range of new financial services and tools, along with convenient access to information and enhanced personal money management capabilities, it also introduces various emerging risks. Hence, financial literacy alone, however significant, is insufficient for the current development of digital-based financial services. Instead, greater emphasis must be focused on digital financial literacy, a multifaceted concept that combines financial and digital literacy (Kass-Hanna et al., 2021).

India’s population stands at about 1.40 billion, out of which 35.9% of people are living in urban areas as compared to 64.1% in rural areas (Kemp, 2022). The country has the fastest-growing mobile market, with around 81.3% of people having cellular mobile phones, 47% of whom are internet users and around 28.5% use internet to access services of banking, investment, and insurance via website or mobile app each month. Due to the surge in the usage of mobile phones and internet, the country is experiencing an extensive growth in the usage of digital financial services (DFS), which strengthens the impact of digitalization (Kass-Hanna et al., 2021; Kemp, 2022). In addition, India has experienced 9.36 billion transactions totaling ₹10.2 trillion through various online payment methods backed by a uniform payment interface (Economic Times, 2022). Thus, DFS are the financial services that rely on digital technologies for delivery and use by consumers and act as a catalyst in reducing the constraints to financial success and economic progress through the provision and use of a diverse set of financial services (Pazarbasioglu et al., 2020). Individuals must be aware of the various DFS currently available and should be able to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of them (Morgan et al., 2019). Furthermore, the researchers have divided DFS among different categories: payments, which include remittance services, electronic money, mobile phone wallets, and so on; internet banking, robo advisor services, personal financial management, and stock trading are examples of asset management; alternative finance includes online balance sheet lending, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, and supply chain finance, etc. (Morgan et al., 2019). For the practical application of DFS, individuals must be acquainted with basic skills of operating digital devices and knowledge of financial concepts to participate in the digital economy (Kass-Hanna et al., 2021). However, the users of DFS face numerous challenges as a large number of people have expressed their concerns about the privacy and security of their data, and approximately 35.4% of the people are worried as to how the online data will be treated by businesses (Kemp, 2022). The potential risk that users may face includes the risk of identity theft, phishing, pharming, sim-card swap, profiling, hacking, spyware, and other privacy-related concerns.

The aim of this research is to provide a valuable contribution to the domain of DFS. In the process of conducting this investigation, we utilized existing empirical and theoretical contributions. In light of the swift progression of the financial sector, with a special emphasis on DFS, it is vital to possess a thorough comprehension of these topics. It is imperative to understand and underscore the significance and application of DFS in the financial industry. Therefore, the present investigation thoroughly assesses prior studies on DFS and will provide a valuable contribution toward the development of a complete analytical framework for assessing the present state of financial services. Hence, the purpose of this study is to review the research field of DFS using performance analysis and science mapping methodology. Following research questions will be addressed:

RQ1: What are the key growth trends in research on DFS?

RQ2: What authors, journals, institutions, and countries in the literature have had the notable impact?

RQ3: What is the intellectual structure of the knowledge base on DFS research?

RQ4: What topics have been studied with greatest frequency in the field of DFS?

While there are some bibliometric review papers focusing on various aspects of Fintech, financial services, and digitalization, a comprehensive review that combines all elements of financial services with digitalization is still needed. Table 1 identifies and outlines the research gaps in the extant literature. However, this study significantly contributes and enriches the existing body of knowledge by providing a detailed bibliometric analysis of the digitalization of financial services, highlighting its evolution, current state, and future directions. It serves as a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners aiming to understand and leverage the ongoing digital revolution in the financial sector.

By systematically analyzing a large corpus of research articles, this study maps the emerging trends and patterns in the field of financial services. This includes identifying key themes, influential publications, and prolific authors, thus providing a clear trajectory of how digitalization has reshaped and transformed the financial services sector over time.

The research study uncovers major research clusters and networks, illustrating how different topics and researchers are interconnected. This insight into the structure of the research community can foster further collaboration and interdisciplinary studies, encouraging more cohesive and comprehensive investigations.

Through an analysis of citation patterns and keyword trends, the study identifies emerging topics and innovations in digital financial services. This forward-looking perspective is invaluable for researchers seeking to stay ahead of the curve and for practitioners aiming to leverage the latest advancement.

Drawing from the recognized trends and deficiencies, this study highlights underexplored areas within the domain of digital financial services. By identifying these gaps, it offers a clear direction for future studies to address existing deficiencies and advance the field further. This involves delving into the influence of emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and Fintech startups on traditional financial services, as well as examining the socio-economic consequences of these digital shifts, the role of hybrid advisor in financial planning, etc.

Table 1.

Past Reviews in the Field.

Author(s)	Pandey et al. (2023)	Alshater et al. (2023)	Bhatt et al. (2022)
Study’s domain	Fintech literature in banking and finance	Initial coin offerings	Fintech, digitalization, and financial services
Keywords used	“Fintech” and “Bank” or “Finance”	(“Initial coin offering” OR “Initial token offering” OR “initial exchange offering” OR “Initial token offering”)	(“Fintech” OR “Financial Technology” OR “Financial Technologies” OR “Finance Technologies” OR “Blockchain” OR “Cryptocurrency” OR “Crowdfunding” OR “P2P lending” OR “digital” OR “digital transformation”) AND “Financial Services”
Database used	Scopus	Scopus	Scopus
Type of review	Bibliometric review and content analysis	Bibliometric review and content analysis	Bibliometric and thematic literature review
No. of articles	366	80	583
Quality criteria for selecting articles	ABDC rank: A*, A, and B category journals	Journals listed in ABS, ABDC, WoS-SSCI, and Scopus Q1 and Q2, and included the research articles with more than 10 citations	–
Time period	2016–2022	2018–2022	1984–2021
Analysis	• performance analysis• co-authorship analysis (authors)• co-occurrence (keywords)• citation analysis (countries)• co-citation analysis (journals)• bibliographic coupling (documents)• page rank analysis	• performance analysis• content analysis	• performance analysis• co-occurrence (keywords)• co-citation analysis (documents)• page rank analysis• Thematic literature review (ABDC ranked journals)
Software/tools used	• VoSviewer: extracting map and network data• Gephi: data visualization	VoSviewer	Bibliometrix R package

The subsequent sections of this article have been organized in the following manner. In the second section, the methodology and analytical procedures are described. The findings pertaining to the descriptive structure of the research field are presented in the third section. Subsequently, the fourth section presents the conclusion and implications of the study. Drawing upon the aforementioned analyses and discoveries, we proposed a research agenda for forthcoming studies on DFS in the fifth section.

Methodology for Bibliometric Research

Defining the Most Pertinent Search Phrases

The terminology employed in this study is a financial services terminology in the context of digitalization. To verify that all facets of DFS were included in this research, the keywords linked to the research field were included. In this phase, with the aim of obtaining the most relevant and comprehensive results, a preliminary investigation was carried out on Google Scholar. In accordance with established procedures, a thorough investigation was carried out in reputable scholarly journals to ensure a comprehensive examination of pertinent research. Hence, the final query was used to extract the data from the Scopus database, and connectors “OR” and “AND” were employed to formulate search strings. The sets of keywords chosen for extracting the data from Scopus are outlined in Table 2. The authors managed to come up with these terms—financial services, digitalization, and DFS—after conducting a thorough inspection of major relevant papers.

Table 2.

Criteria Governing Article Inclusion and Exclusion.

Search Criteria	Excluded	Included
Database used for search: Scopus
Term used for search: ((“financial service” AND “digitalization”) OR “digital financial services”)	–	366
Subject area: ‘‘Business, management and accounting,’’ ‘‘Economics, econometrics and finance,’’ and ‘‘Social sciences’’	122	244
Document type: “Articles” only	61	183
Language: “English” only	13	170
Quality screening: Reading the abstracts	33	137

Method Used for Collecting Data

The Scopus database was selected due to (a) its wide coverage of publications that meet strict indexing criteria, including scientific and scholarly relevance, (b) along with extensive bibliometric data for indexed publications. Scopus is ideal for projects aiming to assemble a large dataset for analysis (Paul et al., 2021) and is commonly suggested for bibliometric evaluations (Donthu et al., 2021). In comparison to Web of Science, Scopus stands out as a more comprehensive data source for analysis with broader coverage (Paul et al., 2021). With over 84 million records, including more than 26 million from peer-reviewed journals, Scopus stands as a citation database of considerable magnitude (Scopus, 2022). Moreover, our preference for Scopus is based on its provision of the most extensive selection of peer-reviewed research in the domain of finance (Pattnaik et al., 2020) when compared to databases like Web of Science (Valtakoski, 2020). Hence, this database proves valuable in offering comprehensive insights into burgeoning research areas, such as our exploration of digital financial services in the present study.

The systematic method was employed to reach the final count of 137 articles presented in Table 1. The keywords “financial service” AND “digitalization” OR “Digital financial services” were employed to cover papers published within the fields of “Business, management, and accounting,” “Economics, econometrics, and finance,” and “Social sciences” and published in English language. This selection was made from a variety of subject areas as indicated in Table 1. The authors went through several methods to clean and organize the data. Several plural nouns were altered to singular nouns (e.g., services to service, financial inclusions to financial inclusion, etc.). Additional interpretations of related concepts were unified as well (e.g., “digitalization,” “digitization,” and “digitalization” are all merged into “Digitalization”). Finally, these cleansing procedures contribute to achieving theme assessment consistency. Furthermore, the authors conducted a qualitative review of the publications by examining the abstracts, resulting in the exclusion of 33 articles out of 170 that did not satisfy the study’s inclusion criteria.

Table 3.

Main Information About Trends of Publications.

Description	Results
Timespan	2014:2023
Document type: article	137
Annual growth rate %	31.8
Average citations per document	9.949
References	7540
Authors	380
Documents: single-authored	16
Co-authors per document	2.9
International co-authorships %	26.28

Methodology Used for Analysis

Bibliometric analysis covers a range of tools used to analyze and quantify data and text using a quantitative methodology approach (Goyal & Kumar, 2021; Mishra et al., 2018). This method permits the acquisition of relevant content from literature reviews, which can be used subsequently to augment the area of the research (Groff et al., 2020; Suominen et al., 2016). This requires developing and disseminating biographies on a topic, recognizing trends together within research field, and assessing research works that provide an overview for defining the state of study (Gao et al., 2021; Hossain et al., 2022). The data is analyzed using bibliometric analysis techniques such as performance analysis, which assesses the publication’s performance, and science mapping technique analysis, which involves co-authorship, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-occurrence analysis (Donthu et al., 2021). Therefore, the present study analyzed the trends and advancement of knowledge within the field of DFS by examining the bibliometric structure that encompasses journal publications, individual authors, organizations, and countries. Through evaluating the influence of research output, we can pinpoint both the strengths and weaknesses in research areas.

Research Results

Performance Analysis of Publications

The distribution of publications in DFS research is illustrated in Figure 1 and Table 3, showing a yearly growth rate of 31.8%. The year with the highest productivity was 2022, with Leyer and Hollmann (2014) and Greenacre (2015) being the early contributors to research in this area. Initial research patterns suggest that digital or electronic banking was more commonly used than DFS. However, the term “Fintech” gradually gained prominence in this particular research area. Greenacre (2015) conducted the first analysis on the strategy for regulating DFS. In 2020, DFS research began to gain popularity, and since then, their annual rate of production has climbed dramatically, from a single document in 2014 to 55 documents in 2022 and still counting in 2023. Generally, based on the current year’s trend, the number of studies conducted in this field will expand in the following years due to the proliferation of DFS. The pandemic along with the importance of social distancing have placed DFS in the limelight (Agur et al., 2020). The rise in the number of papers during pandemic is an undeniable sign of the paradigm shift that researchers are witnessing in the field.

Figure 1.

DFS Publication Trend.

Based on the selected literature sample of 137 articles published between 2014 and 2023 by 380 authors from 286 institutions in 105 journals and their 7,540 references, we identified the most productive and most cited journals, the most cited authors, and the 10 most cited articles. It can also be observed from Table 3 that 2.9 authors, on average, collaborated on the 137 selected articles, while 16 out of 137 documents were written by a single author.

Most Influential Journals for DFS Research

Table 4 highlights the 10 most productive journals consistently contributing to the field of DFS. With source analysis, one can find the journals that regularly accept research in the domain and allow researchers to tailor their article submissions accordingly (Park, 2017). The 137 examined papers are distributed over 105 journals. A notable and prominent source is Sustainability with maximal publications of 11 documents followed by the Journal of Business Research, which is an “A” category journal with six documents. The leading finance journal is International Journal of Financial Studies with three publications. Moreover, the most fruitful non-finance journal is Sustainability with 11 publications. The research on DFS is of consumer interest and fits well within the purview of these journals. The majority of these journals have an Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) ranking of A or B, indicating that the topic is among the top publications for business and management research.

Table 4.

Notable and Influential Journals for DFS Research.

Journal Name	ABDC Rank	TP	Cite Score^a	SNIP	SJR^a	Quartile^b
Sustainability	NR	11	5.0	1.31	0.664	Q1
Journal of Business Research	A	6	11.2	3.089	2.316	Q1
Technological Forecasting and Social Change	A	4	13.7	3.097	2.336	Q1
International Journal of Bank Marketing	A	3	7.3	1.706	0.886	Q2
International Journal of Financial Studies	B	3	2.6	1.063	0.35	Q3
WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics	NR	3	1.3	0.751	0.194	Q4
Applied Economics Letters	B	2	1.8	0.663	0.4	Q3
European Management Journal	B	2	8.9	2.243	1.477	Q1
Telecommunications Policy	NR	2	6.2	1.866	1.203	Q1
Journal of Cultural Economy	NR	2	3.0	1.246	0.743	Q1

Notes: ABDC Rank; ^aFigures for 2021 provided by Scopus; ^bFigures for 2021 provided by Scimago journal ranking.

Abbreviations: TP = total publications; SNIP = source normalized impact per paper; SJR = Scimago journal ranking.

Figure 2 indicates that the area of DFS is well interconnected not only to disciplines such as business, social sciences, and economics but also to a remarkable number of other fields such as decision sciences, engineering, energy, computer sciences, environmental sciences, arts, and psychology. This implies that the subject is multidisciplinary. What is really intriguing is the scarcity of research in other subject areas, particularly developmental studies and sociology.

Figure 2.

Source: Scopus (2023).

Leading Authors, Institutions, and Nations Within the Research Field

Table 5 signifies leading institutions, authors, and nations publishing in the research field of DFS. Based on our data set, 380 authors from 286 institutions and 59 countries have published articles on DFS. Nkemdilim Iheanachor leads the list with 4 publications and 64 citations followed by Pavlo Rubanov, who has 2 publications and 55 citations. Likewise, Goethe University in Frankfurt is the most influential institution, with 1 publication and highest citation of 375 in their credit followed by Innovalogy Capital Management, Luleå University of Technology, Hanken School of Economics, and University of St. Gallen each having 1 article and 80 citations. The institutes are primarily based in Switzerland and Germany, indicating that research on DFS is focused on these nations, which also have close, broad, and amicable connections in research. Moreover, the two countries have identical interests in terms of social, economic, and international policy.

Table 5 also highlights the most influential countries; Germany tops the list with 540 citations and 10 publications followed by China with maximal publications of 18 documents and 176 citations. China is trailed by India, which has the second greatest number of publications (17 papers and 95 citations). Since 2022, Germany is primarily focusing on implementing their digital strategy with three key areas: digitally enabled society and economic and digital innovation. Additionally, the United Kingdom and the United States are neck to neck, with 142 citations and 14 publications, and 130 citations and 15 publications, respectively.

Table 5.

Leading Authors, Institutions, and Nations.

TC	Author(s)	TP	TC	Country	TP	TC	Institution	TP
64	Iheanachor N.	4	540	Germany	10	375	Goethe University, Frankfurt	1
55	Rubanov P.	2	176	China	18	80	Innovalogy Capital Management	1
46	David-West O.	2	142	United Kingdom	14	80	Luleå University of Technology	1
26	Al-Okaily M.	2	130	United States	15	80	Hanken School of Economics	1
24	Umukoro I.	2	115	France	6	80	University of St. Gallen	1
21	Gupta S.	2	95	India	17	80	University of Vaasa	1
21	Kanungo R.P.	2	79	Ukraine	5	50	Cesifo, Munich, Germany	1
14	Okello Candiya Bongomin G.	2	70	Nigeria	6	50	Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition	1
5	Chamboko R.	2	17	South Africa	6	50	Université Côte D’azur	1
4	Devi N.C.	2	16	Russia	8	50	University of Bremen	1

Abbreviations: TP = total publications; TC = total number of citations.

Prominent Articles in the Research Field of DFS

Table 6 highlights the most highly cited and significant works in the domain of DFS research. Gomber et al.’s (2017) article “Digital Finance and Fintech: Current Research and Future Research Directions” tops the list, with 375 citations published in the Journal of Business Economics with an average of 53.57 citations per year followed by the article by Palmié et al. (2020) titled “The Evolution of the Financial Technology Ecosystem: An Introduction and Agenda for Future Research on Disruptive Innovations in Ecosystems,” with 80 citations published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, with an average citation of 20.00 per year. The two most cited research articles are conceptual in nature and provide a thorough evaluation of the current research within the area of DFS. Gomber et al. (2017) analyzed the present current research state in Digital Finance and introduced the digital finance cube, which comprises of the following: (a) digital finance business operations, which include digital finance, digital investing, and digital insurance, etc.; (b) key technologies enabling the digital finance firm to operate via blockchain technology, big data, analytics, and social networks, to name a few; and (c) institutions providing digital finance solutions embracing both startups and well-established companies. Moreover, the authors stated that scanty research is available on digital insurance and the topic remained underexplored, which will pave the way for more research in this domain.

Table 6.

Most Influential Articles on DFS Research.

TC	Year	CPY	Title	Source
375	2017	53.57	“Digital Finance and Fintech: Current Research and Future Research Directions”	Journal of Business Economics
80	2019	20.00	“The Evolution of the Financial Technology Ecosystem: An Introduction and Agenda for Future Research on Disruptive Innovations in Ecosystems”	Technological Forecasting and Social Change
50	2020	16.67	“How Do Banks Interact with Fintech Startups?”	Small Business Economics
48	2020	12.00	“The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and Opportunities to Expand Access to and Use of Financial Services”	World Bank Economic Review
47	2021	15.67	“Digitalization in the Financial Industry: A Contingency Approach of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Strategic Vision on Digitalization”	European Management Journal
44	2019	8.80	“Financial Inclusion: The Role of Fintech and DFS in India”	Indian Journal of Economics and Business
43	2019	8.60	“The Influence of Industry 4.0 on Financial Services: Determinants of Alternative Finance Development”	Polish Journal of Management Studies
39	2020	9.75	“Digital Financial Inclusion and Farmer’s Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence from Rural China”	Sustainability (Switzerland)
38	2020	9.50	“Fintech: Research Directions to Explore the Digital Transformation of Financial Service Systems”	Journal of Service Theory and Practice
37	2020	9.25	“Robo-advisors: A Substitute for Human Financial Advice?”	Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance

Abbreviations: TC = total citations; CPY = citations per year.

Examining the influence of Fintech on the financial services industry, Palmié et al. (2019) demonstrated how ecosystems around a radical innovation affect established businesses by studying the financial services sector. They identified three key areas: (a) Emergence of financial technologies that drive the change in the ecosystem of Fintech, covering electronic payments, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, etc.; (b) development of financial technology applications, which include banking, payments, crowdfunding, Insurtech, Regtech, and wealth management, to name a few; (c) development of the Fintech ecosystem for disruptive innovation, which includes maturation, symbiosis, and resilience of an industry. In addition, the study demonstrates the significance of the Fintech ecosystem for disruptive innovations, which not only demand but also warrant additional investigation by the researchers.

Top Research References for DFS

Based on their local citations, Table 7 lists the top references for DFS research articles. The paper titled “Impact of Digital Finance on Financial Inclusion and Stability” by Ozili (2018) is a leading reference with six local citations. The study assessed the effect of digital finance on financial inclusion and the stability of the financial system. Also, the author built a framework to demonstrate the role of government, service providers, and banks in digital and inclusive finance. The issue of the agency problem is also addressed by suggesting that digital financial users should engage in the decision-making process. They must have the freedom to select the specific digital finance services they prefer to utilize or not, allowing DFS providers to pivot their focus from profit maximization to user-oriented customizations to generate value for their clientele. Similarly, the study by David-West et al. (2018) has five local citations, making it the second most cited paper. The study focused on supply-side constraints that limit the intentions to adopt DFS.

Table 7.

Top References for DFS Research.

LC	Title	Author(s)
6	“Impact of Digital Finance on Financial Inclusion and Stability”	Ozili (2018)
5	“A Resource-based View of DFS (DFS): An Exploratory Study of Nigerian Providers”	David-West et al. (2018)
5	“The Long-run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money”	Suri and Jack (2016)
5	“The Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Africa”	Zins and Weill (2016)
4	“The Theory of Planned Behavior”	Ajzen (1991)
4	“Case Studies Synthesis: A Thematic, Cross-case, and Narrative Synthesis Worked Example”	Cruzes et al. (2015)
3	“Triggers and Barriers to Financial Inclusion: The Use of ICT-based Branchless Banking in an Amazon County”	Diniz et al. (2012)
3	“Mobile Money for Financial Inclusion”	Donovan (2012)
3	“Building Theories from Case Study Research”	Eisenhardt (1989)
3	“Theory Building from Cases: Opportunities and Challenges”	Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007)

Abbreviations: LC = local citations.

Analysis of Thematic and Influential Structures Based on Bibliographic Coupling

The theme clusters of DFS research as determined by bibliographic coupling are displayed in Table 8 and Figure 3. The six topic structures are digital inclusive finance, the financial technology ecosystem, the mobile money ecosystem, the gender’s role and DFS, entrepreneurial orientation and the emergence of digitalization in the financial sector, and financial literacy and the emergence of robo-advisors. Table 8 also includes the most significant publications within each cluster. The six clusters represent every facet of research on DFS.

Table 8.

Thematic and Influencing Structure Analysis Through Bibliographic Coupling.

Cluster Number	Color	Cluster Label	Title	Author
1		Digital inclusive finance	“Digital Financial Inclusion and Farmers’ Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence from Rural China”“Digital Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth: Provincial Data Analysis of China”“The contribution of DFS to Financial Inclusion in Mozambique: An ARDL Model Approach”	Wang X. (2020)Ahmad M. (2021)Fernandes C. (2021)
2		Financial technology ecosystem	“Digital Finance and Fintech: Current Research and Future Research Directions”“The Evolution of the Financial Technology Ecosystem: An Introduction and Agenda for Future Research on Disruptive Innovations in Ecosystems”	Gomber P. (2017)Palmié M. (2020)
3		Mobile money ecosystem	“Mobile Money Adoption and Usage and Financial Inclusion: Mediating Effect of Digital Consumer Protection”“How Inclusive DFS Impact User Behavior: A Case of Proximity Mobile Payment in Korea”	Bongomin and Ntayi (2020)Mu H.-L. (2021)
4		Role of gender and the use of DFS	“On the Role of Gender and Age in the Use of DFS in Zimbabwe”“Exploring the Gender Gap in Mobile Money Awareness and Use: Evidence from Eight Low- and Middle-income Countries”	Chamboko R. (2022)Reynolds W. T. (2023)
5		Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in the age of digitalization	“Digitalization in the Financial Industry: A Contingency Approach of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Strategic Vision on Digitalization”“Exploring How Digitalization Influences Incumbents in Financial Services: The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Firm Assets, and Organizational Legitimacy”	Niemand T. (2021)Zhou D. (2021)
6		Financial literacy and financial behavior	“Financial Vulnerability, Financial Literacy, and the Use of Digital Payment Technologies”“Financial Literacy and Its Influence on Internet Banking Behavior”	Seldal M. M. N. (2022)Andreou P. C. (2021)

Figure 3.

Thematic and Influencing Structural Analysis on DFS.

Cluster 1 (red and gray nodes) was merged with another cluster because both of the clusters were focusing on inclusive digital finance. Under this cluster, Ahmad et al. (2021) examined the effect of digital inclusive finance and intellectual resource on China’s provincial GDP per capita–based economic growth. The authors studied coverage breadth, utilization depth, human capital, and digitalization level. Their research found that both human capital and digital financial inclusion pose a substantial influence on the growth of China’s economy. Hence, economic growth can be fostered through digital financial inclusion by eliminating barriers to accessing DFS and enhancing customers’ knowledge, skills, and expertise. Similarly, Fernandes et al. (2020) analyzed the impact of traditional and new payment methods such as ATMs, POS terminals, and cashless payment terminals, as well as i-banking, m-banking, and e-money on financial inclusion. Moreover, the study’s findings indicated that DFS positively impact financial inclusion with regard to both traditional and innovative means of payment. Additionally, it was suggested that the government develop the required policies to encourage the usage of DFS. In a similar vein, Wang and He (2020) looked at the influence of digital financial inclusion on risk and structural vulnerability to poverty among farmers. The findings found that farmers who use digital finance more frequently have lower vulnerability, indicating that their usage of DFS tends to have a favorable effect on the proneness to poverty, largely through the channel of risk coping.

Cluster 2 (green nodes) includes the research on financial technology ecosystem. Gomber et al. (2017) examined the present research landscape in digital finance and introduced digital finance cube, which covers: (a) digital finance business functions, which include digital financing, investing, and insurance, among many others; (b) noteworthy technologies, such as blockchain technology, big data analytics, and social networks, to name a few, enabling digital finance business functions; and (c) institutions that provide digital finance solutions to both startups and well-established companies. Likewise, Palmié et al. (2019) examined the influence of fintech on financial services sector to explain how ecosystems surrounding disruptive innovations arise and affect the well-known businesses. They identified three key areas: (a) emergence of financial technologies that drive the change in the ecosystem of fintech covering electronic payments, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, etc.; (b) development of financial technology applications, which includes banking, payments, crowdfunding, Insurtech, Regtech, and wealth management, to name a few; and (c) the emergence of the Fintech revolutionary innovation ecosystem, which encompasses industry maturity, symbiosis, and resilience.

Cluster 3 (blue nodes) covers the research in the area of mobile money ecosystem. Bongomin and Ntayi (2020) looked at how digital consumer protection mediates the relationship between the use and adoption of mobile money and financial inclusion. The study’s results revealed that digital consumer protection acts as a mediator between the relationship of mobile money adoption and use and financial inclusion. This suggests that people who use mobile money have enough information to make smart financial decisions and prevent service providers from acting unfairly. Mu and Lee (2021) looked into the switching intention of people from traditional payment methods to proximity mobile payments and how it changes people’s plans to switch during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors controlled for self-efficacy, gender, age, duration of usage, and employment. As the primary push factor, dissatisfaction with traditional payment positively influenced the switching intent. The findings depicted that if college students are dissatisfied with the traditional payment method, they are more likely to consider switching to proximity mobile payment. In addition, perceived substitutability and perceived usefulness also influenced the switching intention of college students positively. In particular, perceived usefulness had the greatest effect, followed by perceived substitutability. However, no significant relationship was found between perceived ease of use and switching intentions of users.

Cluster 4 (yellow nodes) covers the gender’s role in the usage of DFS. Gender differences in access to and use of mobile money are studied by Reynolds et al. (2023) in eight developing and transitional economies after controlling for gender, age, marital status, literacy, qualifications, and employment. In almost all of the countries studied, females were found to be much less likely to be aware of or make use of mobile money than males. The study found greater gender gaps in mobile money use than awareness, suggesting further hurdles to technology adoption for women at the later stage. Similarly, Chamboko (2022) investigated the gender and age role in the usage of DFS and the extent to which the demographic factors influence the tendency to use DFS in a nation that has had serious monetary as well as economic issues for a long period of time after controlling of various characteristics such as sources and level of income, education level, and locality. According to their study’s findings, gender is not a predictor of DFS usage, and both males and females use DFS equally in order to make financial transactions.

The research on entrepreneurial orientation and emergence of digitalization in financial sector is covered under cluster 5 (violet nodes). Niemand et al. (2020) examined entrepreneurial orientations and bank performance in the era of digitalization. They found that banks that exhibit significant concentrations of entrepreneurial orientation reported a greater degree of a firm’s performance. Moreover, the association between a bank’s strategic vision on digitalization and the firm’s performance was moderated by entrepreneurial orientation. For enhanced performance, the authors found that entrepreneurial orientation must be fostered in conjunction with a strategic vision of digitization so that they can be ahead of their competitors. Similarly, Zhou et al. (2021) examines the influence of digitalization, entrepreneurial orientation, firm assets, and organizational legitimacy on the success and performance of incumbents in the financial services sector. The research found that digitalization alone has no effect on incumbents’ performance in the financial services sector, regardless of its significance.

Cluster 6 (orange and light blue nodes) discusses about the aspect of financial literacy and financial behavior. Seldal and Nyhus (2022) investigated how users behave when utilizing digital payment methods, assessing if this raises the risk of financial fragility. They also explored whether the financial behavior of users reflects a lack of financial literacy, even after accounting for factors such as age, education, gender, and income. Surprisingly, results indicated that users of digital payment are less likely to indulge in problematic financial behavior and the users of mobile payment were less financially vulnerable to risk than non-users. Moreover, it was also seen that among users, the likelihood of adopting digital financial technologies substantially increased with the improvement in their financial literacy scores. Similarly, Andreou et al. (2019) assessed the association between financial literacy and consumers’ internet-banking behavior among residents of Cyprus. It was found that residents of Cyprus possess low levels of financial literacy. However, the study revealed a highly positive relationship between financial literacy and its influence on the internet-banking behavior of consumers. It was suggested that national strategies should be reframed and financial education should be given to help people learn more about and get better at handling the digital financial risks that are common when using internet banking.

Trends in Research on DFS-based on Co-occurrence Analysis

Using the foundations and themes offered by bibliographic coupling, the authors analyzed thematic and intellectual structure in studies of DFS using co-occurrence analysis, represented in Table 9. As illustrated in Figure 4, keywords used by authors were used for co-occurrence analysis. These authors’ keywords were applied so that topical evolution of DFS can be discovered that appears in at least five articles from our review sample. The circle’s size symbolizes the notable significance of a keyword in terms of its occurrence rate. The most commonly used keyword in the area of DFS are financial inclusion, fintech, DFS, digitalization, and financial services. Since 2019, the number of frequently used keywords in this field of study has increased. Financial services are being replaced by DFS, and the concept of financial inclusion is being replaced by digital financial inclusion in the digitalization era.

Table 9.

DFS Research Keywords Frequency over the Time.

Year	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Total
Total	–	–	–	1	2	11	29	55	101	109	308
Financial inclusion	–	–	–	–	–	2	5	13	27	27	74
Fintech	–	–	–	1	1	2	7	12	23	26	72
DFS	–	–	–	–	1	2	4	9	24	25	65
Digitalization	–	–	–	–	–	1	6	11	13	16	47
Financial services	–	–	–	–	–	4	7	10	14	15	50

The other keywords that are emerging in this domain are disruptive innovation, financial innovation, artificial intelligence, robo-advisors, crowdfunding, insurance technology, and regulatory technology, and these keywords will pave the way for more research in this domain at later stages. Figure 4 and Table 10 depict the authors’ keyword frequency over time.

Figure 4.

Authors’ Keyword Frequency over Time.

Table 10.

Focal Research Areas over the Time Through Co-occurrence Analysis.

Time Frame	Keywords	Focal Research Areas
Mid-2020	Financial services, banking, artificial intelligence, internet banking, and financial innovation	1. Role of artificial intelligence in banking operations2. How existing financial services are innovated by service providers3. How financial innovation has transformed the financial services industry
Early 2021	Digitalization, disruptive innovation, and mobile money	1. How ecosystems surrounding disruptive innovations arise and affect established businesses2. Emergence of financial technologies that drive the change in the ecosystem of Fintech covering; electronic payments, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, etc.
Mid-2021	Fintech, financial inclusion	1. Fintech and its role in fostering financial inclusion2. Harnessing innovation through fintech and its influence on financial inclusion
Late 2021	DFS, digital financial inclusion and financial literacy	1. The role of financial literacy in the awareness usage of DFS2. How access, usage, and quality of DFS influence the digital financial inclusion

Table 10 depicts the keywords that emerged during the different time frames, and focal research areas are also listed. Since the year 2020, research studies have concentrated on the idea of financial services offered by banking units. Nevertheless, at the time of the global pandemic, the use of DFS increased owing to social distancing, and so did the research studies. During this period, new ideas developed, such as financial innovation and artificial intelligence. However, in the early stages of 2021, the most frequently used keywords were digitalization, mobile money, and disruptive innovation. As the year progressed, these terms were replaced by fintech and financial inclusion, followed by DFS and digital financial inclusion.

Conclusion and Implications

We analyzed 137 articles from the Scopus database using bibliometric methods. The sample includes articles published between 2014 and 2023 by 380 authors from 286 institutions in 105 journals, along with 7,540 references. The annual publications are proliferating, showing a yearly growth rate of 31.8%. In 2022, there was a peak in productivity with 55 documents. Among the 105 journals, the most prominent and productive journal is Sustainability, with 11 publications. Germany emerges as the leading country with 10 publications and 540 citations. Notably, Goethe University, Frankfurt, has published one article that is similar to many other organizations but holds the top spot with 375 citations. In terms of authors, Iheanachor N. is the most productive with 4 publications and 64 citations.

Moreover, conducting cluster analysis on bibliographically coupled articles yields six distinct clusters. Analyzing the most prominent literature within each cluster helped identify thematic relationships among the published articles. These clusters are centered around various topics such as: (a) digital inclusive finance in Cluster 1; (b) financial technology ecosystem in Cluster 2; (c) mobile money ecosystem in Cluster 3; (d) role of gender and use of DFS in Cluster 4; (e) entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in the age of digitalization in Cluster 5; (f) financial literacy and robo-advisors in Cluster 6. Additionally, we propose potential future research directions based on existing literature through content analysis to identify areas that remain unexplored in the realm of Fintech.

The authors’ keyword co-occurrence further uncovers the themes in four distinct time periods: (a) mid-2020: concentrating on the innovation of existing financial services by service providers, including financial services, banking, artificial intelligence, internet banking, and financial innovation; (b) early 2021: emphasizing the emergence of financial technologies that bring about change in the Fintech ecosystem, such as digitalization, disruptive innovation, and mobile money covering electronic payments, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, etc.; (c) mid-2021: highlighting the impact of fintech on financial inclusion and the innovation it brings; (d) late 2021: focusing on the role of financial literacy in promoting awareness and usage of DFS, digital financial inclusion, and financial behavior.

Therefore, the present research highlighted the evolution of research trends in DFS research across time as compiled and summarized in Table 11. This article describes the evolution of DFS research from financial services to DFS, financial inclusion to digital financial inclusion, and internet banking to fintech and suggests future research areas for academics. Also, it will be able to intrigue scholars, students, and financial practitioners in understanding the concept of DFS and will pave the way for more research into the various facets of DFS. The current study will be of immense significance to various parties such as public, government, and institutions. Various stakeholders can access these publications to tackle the current academic and industry difficulties by understanding the notable contributors of the study. The study would also help them understand the gaps in the existing literature and prospective study directions, which would help them perform future investigations. Thus, the findings of the study will contribute to the enrichment of the ongoing literature on DFS. The study will assist policymakers and governments in recognizing the importance of designing policies and cyber hygiene procedures associated with digital fraud in order to mitigate the perils of digital finance as well as promote digital financial inclusion through widespread education and awareness efforts.

Table 11.

Bibliometric Review Summary.

Performance analysis	Bibliographic coupling	Co-occurrence analysis
• Based on bibliometric data• Reflection of research performance	• Based on citing publications• Reflections on the body of knowledge	• Based on the keywords used by authors• Reflections on the body of knowledge
• Publication practiceFrom 2014 and February 2023, a total of 137 articles were published, with an annual growth rate of 31.8%.With 55 publications, 2022 was the most prolific year, preceded by 2021 with 30 articles.• AuthorsMaximal citations: Iheanachor N. with 64 citationsMaximal publications: Iheanachor N. with 4 publications• InstitutionsMaximal citations: Goethe University, Frankfurt, with a total of 375 citationsMaximal publications: Goethe University, Frankfurt (one publication)• CountryMaximal citations: Germany with 540 total citationsMaximal publications: China with 18 publications followed by India with 17 publications• JournalsMaximal cite score: Technological forecasting and social change with a cite score of 13.7Maximal publications: Sustainability (Switzerland) with 11 publications• ArticlesMaximal citations: Gomber et al. (2017) with 375 citations	Themes1. Cluster 1: Digital inclusive finance2. Cluster 2: Financial technology ecosystem3. Cluster 3: Mobile money ecosystem4. Cluster 4: Role of gender and use of DFS5. Cluster 5: Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in the age of digitalization6. Cluster 6: Financial literacy and robo-advisors	Time Frame and Themes1. Mid-2020: Financial services, banking, artificial intelligence, internet banking, and financial innovation.2. Focus: How existing financial services are innovated by service providers?3. Early-2021: Digitalization, disruptive innovation, and mobile money4. Focus: Emergence of financial technologies that drives the change in the ecosystem of Fintech covering; electronic payments, blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, etc.5. Mid-2021: Fintech and financial inclusion6. Focus: Harnessing innovation through fintech and its impact on the financial inclusion.7. Late-2021: DFS, digital financial inclusion, and financial literacy8. Focus: The role of financial literacy in the awareness usage of DFS.

Future Research Directions

Based on our comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the changing landscape of financial services in the age of digitalization, we propose numerous potential areas for future research. By exploring these below-mentioned cutting-edge research fields, future studies can push the boundaries of how digitalization continues to transform and reshape financial services, addressing both the opportunities and obstacles that are on the horizon.

Digital financial literacy: By promoting the concept of digital financial literacy, the study can be undertaken to increase public awareness of the availability and accessibility of various types of DFS. The role of digital financial literacy can be investigated to ascertain the level of awareness and usage of DFS. In this vein, the role of usage of DFS can be studied in the context of financial behavior such as saving, spending, investing, credit management, and stock market participations.

Digital insurance (Insurtech): There is a scarcity of study on digital insurance, also known as Insurtech, that future academics may address in their studies.

Role of regulatory technologies (Regtech): As digitalization progresses, regulatory frameworks must evolve to address new risks and challenges. Research should focus on the development and impact of regulatory technologies (Regtech) and how different jurisdictions are adapting their regulatory landscapes to keep pace with digital innovations in financial services.

Robo-advisor services: Future researchers can investigate the behavioral intentions and adoption behavior of users with respect to robo-advisors as whether they are ready to replace it with the human advice so that they can overcome the likelihood of human biases.

Cybersecurity strategies: With the rise of digitalization, there is a greater susceptibility to cyber threats and fraud. Therefore, by investigating efficient cybersecurity strategies, fraud detection systems, and how they are utilized in financial institutions, studies can offer valuable knowledge on protecting digital financial services.

Socioeconomic implications: The wider socioeconomic implications of digitalizing financial services warrant further exploration. This entails analyzing the effects on jobs, economic development, financial access, and the gap between digital haves and have-nots. Grasping these effects can assist policymakers, industry leaders, and business executives in making well-informed choices to optimize advantages and reduce adverse outcomes.

Ethics and sustainability: Future studies should also consider the sustainability and ethical consequences of digital financial services. This encompasses investigating the environmental effects of digital infrastructure, ethical issues regarding data privacy and security, and the contribution of financial services to advancing sustainable development goals (SDGs). In line with this, researchers can also explore the role of digital technologies in promoting sustainable finance and green investment. This includes assessing how fintech solutions can support environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, carbon trading, and the financing of renewable energy projects.

Role of hybrid advisory in financial planning: An intriguing field of study involves exploring the changing dynamics of human–machine collaboration within financial advisory services. One area of research could center on hybrid advisory approaches that combine the expertise of artificial intelligence and human advisors to provide a more thorough and tailored financial guidance.

Nevertheless, researchers should take a few limitations of the current work into account. To demonstrate, in order to limit the study’s scope, only English-language papers were analyzed, omitting writings in languages such as French, Spanish, and Chinese, among others, which, if examined in the future, could provide fresh, valuable insights into the field of DFS. In addition, the present analysis included bibliometric data on digital financial research published in the realm of social sciences, economics, and business and management, but future researchers may do comparable studies in other subject areas as well such as arts, psychology, design thinking, energy, environmental sciences, engineering, and computer science. The current study has used only one database, that is, Scopus, to extract the data, whereas future researchers have the opportunity to overcome this constraint by merging Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases in order to elicit comprehensive bibliometric results. In particular, the study used a restricted number of keywords to extract the data; however, other keywords can be added to provide a more holistic picture of the research on DFS.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

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