Digital Banks and Youth Financial Inclusion in Indonesia: Access, Literacy, Trust, and the Gap between Account Ownership and Financial Participation

Abstract

Digital banks in Indonesia have grown quickly since OJK issued its digital banking regulations. National data, though, still point to low financial literacy among students and young adults. This study uses a narrative literature review to examine how digital banks have contributed to financial inclusion among Indonesia's younger generation, and what limits that contribution. The review draws on peer-reviewed articles from 2021–2026 indexed in Google Scholar, Garuda, SINTA, and DOAJ, together with statistics from OJK, Bank Indonesia, and BPS, analyzed through content analysis and thematic synthesis. Low-cost accounts, mobile services, QRIS payments, and digital savings or investment features are the main channels through which digital banks reach young users in the literature reviewed. Whether young people actually adopt these services depends on perceived ease of use, trust, and financial literacy. Where any of these is weak, adoption tends to stall. Cybersecurity risk, uneven digital literacy, infrastructure gaps between regions, and regulation that lags behind the technology all keep this access from turning into real inclusion. Access has improved. It is not the same thing as inclusion. Without stronger literacy programs, consumer protection, and risk governance, digital banking growth in Indonesia risks producing account ownership without much financial participation behind it. The behavioral, regulatory, and statistical literature on this topic has so far mostly been read separately; this review reads it together.