Household financial behaviour: the role of financial inclusion instruments in Nigeria

The importance of financial inclusion is emphasised in the Sustainable Development Goal 2030. This paper investigates the role of financial inclusion on household savings and borrowing behaviour towards building resilience against predicted and unforeseen life events in Nigeria. Using the World Bank Financial Inclusion Survey 2017 (Findex) household data, key drivers of financial inclusion were considered and findings revealed the importance of financial inclusion in encouraging saving consciousness. Result reveals that the average probability of saving is 29.3% which is lower than that of 30.8% probability of borrowing informally from friends and family and 51.8% probability of borrowing from a financial institution. Ownership of financial accounts increases the savings probability by 37% while mobile money account owners have a 3% probability of borrowing from a financial institution than those without, and the influence of gender was found on savings with a financial institution and borrowing informally. Female has a 5% negative relationship with savings formally at a financial institution, and the probability of coming up with an emergency fund was positive with the opening of an account in a financial institution, using mobile money account and having savings. This paper suggests that efforts to promote financial inclusion at the micro-level must consider women across households. The overall result reveals the need to support the financial inclusion agenda with the concentration of financial technology services by policymakers for unbanked and marginalised groups in areas with limited financial access.