Exploring Financial Inclusion: Experiences of Syrian Refugees Living in the UK

Financial inclusion is generally acknowledged as a fundamental requirement for long-term sustainable development, as well as poverty reduction. It refers to the public finance system's availability, functionality, and use by society members. Scholars investigate the determinants, factors, and limits of financial inclusion in different countries, regions and continents around the world. Faith, financial literacy, and financial technology (FinTech) are used as variables in this research to determine Syrian refugees' financial inclusion in the United Kingdom. This study is founded on interviews with Syrian immigrants who arrived in the UK through their own resources or as part of a resettlement scheme run by the UK Home Office in collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Gender, age, marital status, family size, level of education, financial literacy, and experience all differed among the Syrian immigrants who took part in this study. They arrived in South Yorkshire after a long journey from different parts of Syria, travelling through host countries (referred to as the "third country" in the study) before they arrived in the United Kingdom and were granted refugee status. This research uses the interview details as oral histories to present the refugees' social counter accounts of their experiences before, during, and after their immigrant journeys in relation to financial inclusion as well as their immigration experiences in general. The research demonstrates how financial inclusion is critical to their social and financial integration into host countries.