Key Evidence

Evidence shows that unreliable connectivity affects not only users but also financial service providers, increasing operational risks through failed or delayed transactions, system downtime, and reduced service reliability. These disruptions can undermine customer confidence in digital financial services, with disproportionate effects on women, who may have less prior experience with digital tools and lower tolerance for failed or uncertain transactions. As a result, both gaps in coverage and instability in service quality limit adoption, sustained use, and trust in digital financial systems.

The lack of connectivity and unreliable network quality remain significant constraints to digital financial inclusion.

• Mobile internet connectivity varies widely, with 95% of those without access living in LMICs. In these countries, rural adults are 28% less likely than urban residents to use mobile internet, and women are 15% less likely than men. Connectivity is lowest in least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island development states. (GSMA, 2024)
• Mobile connectivity experience is one of the top three barriers to further use in most GSMA survey countries for male and female mobile internet users. This is related to either slow connections, connections dropping frequently, or a lack of overall coverage. People can experience connectivity challenges for several reasons. For example, in most survey countries, 4G coverage exceeds 85%, but a significant proportion of internet users still use a feature phone or a 3G smartphone, which limits their connectivity experience. Network performance may also play a role. (GSMA, 2025)

Connectivity disruptions directly affect the performance of digital financial services and impose significant operational and financial costs on providers, including delayed transactions, service interruptions, and reduced system reliability. 

• Just over 72% of Kenyan mobile banking users surveyed in FSD Kenya’s FinAccess Household Survey cited the “inability to access account through mobile/internet banking/ATM/system downtime” as a challenge. (FSD Kenya, 2021)
• Nigeria grapples with unreliable power supply, limited internet connectivity in remote areas, and inadequate point of sale (POS) terminals, which all hamper consistency among digital payment platform operations. (Imhodibie, 2025)
• Recent studies indicate that technical failures – not just user skills or social norms – drive many women back to cash. In rural India, network and system reliability problems were top barriers to UPI (Unified Payment Interface) and other digital payments. For example, a survey of 40 rural consumers in Himachal Pradesh found poor internet connectivity to be the biggest obstacle to UPI usage. The study emphasizes that addressing server failures is critical: “reducing UPI downtime and technical failures will enhance user experience,” since unreliable transactions push people away. (Aishwarya, 2025)