Conclusion: the human in digital finance – reflections and future trajectories

Anette Broløs, Erin B. Taylor, Jillet Sarah Sam and Shriram Venkatraman

Chapter 11 in Digital Human Finance, 2026, pp 172-182 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This concluding chapter synthesizes key DFS-related insights that challenge technologically deterministic narratives about financial digitization, instead suggesting that DFS remain human endeavours embedded in relational, cultural and institutional contexts. The chapter ties together the core findings from across the book, namely, (a) the inherently social character of digital financial practices; (b) convergences between financial and non-financial services; (c) the hybrid nature of contemporary financial assemblages combining digital and non-digital elements; (d) co-creative relationships between providers and users; and (e) the emergence of diverse financially networked communities. The chapter argues that successful financial innovations must recognize and accommodate the fundamentally human character of economic life, emphasizing that the future of digital finance will be shaped by human agency, cultural frameworks and social relationships rather than just technological capabilities alone. Centring the human, it calls for context-sensitive research and policy that balances innovation with equity and cultural pluralism.

Keywords: Embeddedness; Financial Hybridity; Human-centred Finance; Networked Communities; Technological Determinism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035344925
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