Title:
The Role of Financial Resilience Aided by Fintech in Limiting the Community Spread of Covid-19: International Evidence

Authors:
Assoc. Prof. Mohammed Imad Abdulazeez Al-Doori, Assoc. Prof. Anmar Ghalib Kolaib, Dr. Mustafa Mahmood Mahdi, Saad Alwan Mehamed, Iraq

Abstract:

Using evidence obtained during 2020, we observe an inverse trend between country level uptake of Fintech practices and regulations and intensity of Covid-19 infections and fatalities. We observe an increase in use of digital payments, e-wallets, and a reduction in use of cash, a suspension of fees relating to monetary transfers particularly in countries that have more rigorous controls relating to Covid-19 during the first six months of 2020. Fintech increases financial resilience in countries which enables people to withstand short-term and temporary loss of income. Lockdowns and stoppage of economic activities induced short-term hardships on the population. Consequently, populations with higher financial resilience were better equipped and able to bear the unexpected and sudden economic hardships and abided by those.  Complying with strict lockdown measures limited the community spread of Covid-19.  Hence, we hypothesize that countries with higher adoption of Fintech in their lowest socio-economic strata will have lower cases of Covid-19 infection cases and deaths.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51505/IJEBMR.2024.81107