“THE ROLE OF FINTECH AND TECHNOLOGY IN DELIVERING AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE IN BANKING SECTOR AT ANDHRA PRADESH”

Povzetek

Easy availability of affordable housing finance continues to be a major obstacle for low- and middle-income groups in India (especially in Semi-Urban & Rural areas). In recent times, financial technology (fintech) has become a game changing instrument, capable of ensuring the banking service at the fingertip in a better way, cheaper and faster. This paper tries to analyse the potential of fintech and digital technology for affordable housing financing in the banking sector in Andhra Pradesh under the PM Awas Yojana. A quantitative research design was used and a sample of 450 housing loan beneficiaries and 50 banking professionals from five districts were selected for the data collection. The analysis uses multiple linear regression and moderated regression to estimate the links between prospective fintech utilization, housing finance performance and institutional barriers.

It shows that fintech implementation in terms of tools like mobile-based loan apps, Aadhaar based e-KYC, online EMI calculators and automated status trackers have significant positive impact on the accessibility, loan processing and borrower satisfaction. Fintech solutions offering price transparency and subsidy integration have a positive impact on perceptions of affordability. But here the effectiveness of these technologies is mediated by institutional and contextual obstacles — low digital literacy, staff opposition, weak and fractured internet connectivity, and so on. The conditioned model regression analysis supports that these barriers moderate the positive relationship between fintech and beneficiary satisfaction.

The research found that though fintech offers significant potential in relation to democratizing access to low-cost housing finance, it is contingent on an enabling environment that factors digital infrastructure, skilled human resources and borrower empowerment. The manuscript provides practical policy and managerial guidance to scale up fintech solutions inclusively and sustainably in housing finance. It adds to the literature by situating fintech adoption within state-level landscapes and empirical evidence on what it can and cannot accomplish in the realm of affordable housing finance.