DIGITAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITY AND MSME RESILIENCE: MEDIATING FINTECH UTILIZATION AND MODERATING FINANCIAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Purpose: This conceptual article explains how owner-managers convert digital financial capability into MSME financial resilience through actual fintech utilization and why accumulated financial experience changes the value obtained from that utilization

Research Methodology: An integrative theory-building review was conducted across finance, entrepreneurship, information-systems, and organizational-resilience research, using concept-boundary analysis, mechanism coding, contradiction analysis, and proposition development

Results: The synthesis produces a capability-utilization-resilience framework in which digital financial capability has a direct relationship with resilience and an indirect relationship through the breadth, depth, routinization, and decision integration of fintech use, while financial experience strengthens the utilization-to-resilience pathway  

Limitations: The propositions require longitudinal and multi-source testing, and the proposed financial-experience moderator should be measured through consequential financial events rather than business age alone  

Contribution: The article separates capability from technology use, specifies the missing conversion mechanism between digital finance and resilience, and positions financial experience as an interpretive complement to fintech utilization in MSME research