Semester of Graduation
Spring 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Business Administration
Department
Information Systems and Security
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Aaron French, PhD
Second Advisor
Andrew William Green, PhD
Third Advisor
Saurabh Gupta, PhD
Abstract
The global financial technology (FinTech) market reached nearly $395 billion in 2025 and is projected to surpass $1 trillion within the next decade (Fortune Business Insights, 2025). As digital technologies become increasingly embedded in banking and financial services, this dissertation responds to calls within the Information Systems (IS) discipline to better understand digital access, inclusion, and participation in financial systems (PFS). Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, this study used prominent dimensions from extant digital divide literature to build a digital resource domain consisting of connectability, affordability, usability, mentality, and skill. These dimensions are proposed to influence intrinsic motivation, operationalized through Self-Determination Theory’s (SDT) constructs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn affects individuals’ PFS. This research represents the first known integration of SDT with a resource-based conceptualization of the digital divide in this context.
Survey data were collected from over 650 respondents, primarily across Upstate South Carolina. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified four distinct PFS modalities. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate relationships among the Digital Resource Domain, intrinsic motivation constructs, and PFS modalities.
This dissertation advances digital divide research beyond static access measures by introducing a dynamic framework capable of capturing evolving technological conditions and individual variation. Practically, the results provide insight into how digital capability influences PFS and offer implications for improving current categorizations of U.S. household banking engagement.