Awareness And Perception of Microfinance Opportunities Among Generation Z In India

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@article{1719902,
      author = {Ramesh Sullihalli, Dr. Sujith Kumar S H},
      title = {Awareness And Perception of Microfinance Opportunities Among Generation Z In India},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2026},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1862-1869},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1719902.pdf},
      abstract = {India's microfinance industry has grown into a nearly ■4.2-lakh-crore ecosystem serving more than ten crore borrowers, yet the country's youngest working-age cohort, Generation Z, remains largely outside its reach. This paper, drawn from a broader study titled "Awareness and Perception of Microfinance Opportunities Among Generation Z in India," examines how familiar this cohort is with microfinance, how it perceives microfinance institutions on measures such as trust, usefulness and accessibility, and which factors most strongly predict willingness to adopt microfinance services. The study follows a quantitative design built on secondary data drawn from NABARD, MFIN, TRAI, NPCI and peer-reviewed literature, and applies descriptive statistics, chi-square testing, and multiple regression to test the relationship between awareness, digital engagement, perception and adoption intention. Results show overall Gen Z awareness at only 17.3 percent, despite 95 percent smartphone ownership and 76 percent regular use of digital payments within the same cohort. Regression analysis identifies awareness ( = 0.42) and digital engagement ( = 0.35) as the leading predictors of adoption intention, together with digital engagement, education, location and gender all showing statistically significant association with awareness at p < 0.05. Trust in microfinance institutions emerges as the weakest perception dimension, scoring below the neutral midpoint on a five-point scale. The paper concludes that Generation Z's disengagement from microfinance stems less from lack of digital capability than from limited visibility and institutional trust, and it sets out recommendations for microfinance institutions, regulators and educators aimed at closing this gap.},
      keywords = {Microfinance, Generation Z, Financial Inclusion, Digital Engagement, Awareness, Perception, Adoption Intention, India.},
      month = {July},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV10I1-1719902}
  }