Awareness and Access to Fintech Lending by Micro Steel Enterprises in Punjab, India

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to understand the perception held by Micro Steel Enterprises in Punjab, India, towards the role played by FinTech in it. The quantitative study uses a structured questionnaire to collect primary responses. A total of 400 Micro Steel Enterprises have been approached from Punjab. Here, statistical analyses are used, including chi-square tests, Principal Component Analysis, Multiple Linear Regression and One-way ANOVA. The satisfaction levels across the three factors revealed a significant relationship with the financial aspect only. This clarifies the situation and reveals that using the FinTech services among the Micro Steel Enterprises is only a modification caused by the financial constraints that generate satisfactory levels in the respondents. However, based on the operational conditions of these enterprises is not the factor causing the satisfaction levels, neither are the banking processes. The advances in the course must be solely made based on the financial aspects of Micro Steel Enterprises. The two variables of the owner of these firms are the owner’s age and the firm’s ownership type. The banking aspect and the Micro Steel Enterprise are also found to have associations with them. To motivate the use of FinTech in the process, the owners can be motivated differently towards its usage. The study is a novel attempt to understand the Micro Steel Enterprises in Punjab and its perception towards the use of FinTech. Punjab is the hub of the Steel Industry in India.

Citation

Sachdev, N., Sood, K. and Singh, K.N. (2023), "Awareness and Access to Fintech Lending by Micro Steel Enterprises in Punjab, India", Grima, S., Thalassinos, E., Noja, G.G., Stamataopoulos, T.V., Vasiljeva, T. and Volkova, T. (Ed.) Digital Transformation, Strategic Resilience, Cyber Security and Risk Management (Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, Vol. 111B), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1569-37592023000111B001