Effects of Technological Development on Financial Accessibility a Case Study of East African Community

Abstract

This paper examined the effects of technological development on financial accessibility for East African Community countries namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania for the period 2004 to 2015 using secondary data obtained from World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI). Using fixed effects estimation, the empirical findings of the study show that technological development, real GDP, school enrolment, primary (% Gross) and population density have a positive impact on financial accessibility. On the contrary we establish that higher levels of inflation and openness to trade are associated with lower levels of financial accessibility. We therefore conclude that financial inclusion is generally viewed as an important avenue towards economic development, and that banks and other financial institutions facilitate access to finance through technologically driven service delivery channels leading to increased financial inclusion.