Purpose First, we expand understanding of the causes of debt aversion, specifically, whether it is a preference in its own right. Second, we investigate the consequences of debt aversion for a range of debt products. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory, simultaneous, mixed-methods study uses financial, demographic, psychographic and interview data to investigate debt attitudes and usage among 70 Australians aged 18–40 years. Findings Debt aversion is primarily motivated by fear. Debt invokes psychological stress due to risks of exogenous events and the inability to control spending. Fears also centre on a lack of financial capability and loss of autonomy/freedom in life choices. Minimalist values are a separate, less common driver. Interviews confirm the importance of social learning for debt usage. Negative debt attitudes are associated with reduced usage of credit cards and home mortgages, but not student debt, informal debt or buy-now-pay-later products in the Australian context. Research limitations/implications Debt aversion is not a distinct preference, although attitudes are important for explaining debt usage. Practical implications Debt aversion is not a distinct preference, although attitudes are important for explaining debt usage. Originality/value We uncover a new connection between debt aversion and home mortgages in the Anglosphere. Anxiety about the ability to maintain autonomy and control spending is a crucial yet underappreciated source of debt aversion.

Purpose This study examines the factors influencing consumer adoption of mobile banking (MB) in Afghanistan, a fragile economy where mobile technology offers significant potential for financial inclusion. Design/methodology/approach Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the research integrates external constructs—service awareness, resource availability, perceived trust, and perceived risk—alongside perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and demographic factors, and tests their impact on consumers' intention to adopt MB. Primary data were collected via a structured survey of 377 commercial bank customers in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and hypotheses were tested using partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Perceived trust, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and income significantly and positively affect consumers' intention to adopt MB. In contrast, the impact of education, service awareness, resource availability, and perceived risk on adoption intention was found to be insignificant. The importance of trust, usability, and perceived benefits over infrastructure or awareness-related factors in this context is also highlighted. Practical implications The study extends TAM to the context of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and provides valuable insights for financial institutions and policymakers to promote digital financial inclusion. Strengthening trust mechanisms, simplifying MB interfaces, and tailoring services across income levels are crucial. Originality/value Most prior studies on mobile banking adoption have examined stable, developed, and developing economies, leaving LDCs' fragile contexts understudied. This study fills this gap by exploring Afghanistan's unique institutional environment, illustrating how weak governance infrastructure and low systemic trust reshape core TAM relationships. In this way, it makes a conceptual contribution by expanding TAM's applicability to fragile, underdeveloped countries with unique behavioral and institutional dynamics.

Purpose Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) are critical community-based/informal financial mechanisms, especially in underserved markets. Despite their enduring relevance, ROSCAs remain underexplored. This study aims to systematically map and synthesize 50 years of ROSCA-related scholarship, highlighting intellectual structures, thematic trajectories and emerging research opportunities relevant to financial inclusion and grassroots finance. Design/methodology/approach A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 177 peer-reviewed articles indexed in Scopus from 1973 to 2024. We employed the PRISMA protocol for article selection and utilized Bibliometrix (R package) for performance, network and thematic evolution analysis. Key indicators such as citation trends, co-authorship patterns and co-word clusters were visualized and interpreted. Findings Four dominant thematic clusters emerged: (1) informal financial practices and saving behavior; (2) ROSCAs as vehicles for social capital and gender empowerment; (3) developmental finance in low-income economies and (4) trust, reciprocity and group enforcement mechanisms. The analysis also traces the field's intellectual progression from descriptive ethnographies toward theoretical and digital financial inclusion discourses. Practical implications Findings offer insights for marketers and financial service providers targeting unbanked populations. ROSCAs provide scalable models for inclusive financial innovation, relationship marketing and culturally embedded service design. This study supports the integration of ROSCAs into mobile banking, agent banking and trust-based community outreach strategies. Originality/value This is the first comprehensive bibliometric review focused exclusively on ROSCAs. By bridging informal finance and banking marketing, it offers a strategic roadmap for future academic inquiry and innovation in inclusive financial services.

Purpose This study explores the socioeconomic and financial characteristics that distinguish individuals who own Bitcoin from those who do not in Spain. It aims to understand the profile of cryptocurrency adopters and identify the factors that influence the likelihood of Bitcoin ownership. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the 2021 Financial Competences Survey conducted by the Bank of Spain, the study applies logistic regression models to determine the probability of Bitcoin ownership based on variables such as age, gender, education, income, financial knowledge and digital behavior. Findings The study concludes that the most influential factors in cryptocurrency investment are being a young male and relying on friends and family for financial information. Additionally, we found that crypto investors tend to have high financial knowledge, which is often accompanied by overconfidence. In terms of information sources, investors influenced by specialized websites and magazines are more likely to invest, while those who seek professional financial advice tend to avoid cryptocurrencies. High risk tolerance and overconfidence also are predictors of investment, while greater financial satisfaction and lack of time to monitor finances reduce the likelihood of investing. Originality/value This research is one of the first to examine the characteristics of cryptocurrency users in Spain using official microdata. It offers a comprehensive profile of Bitcoin holders and contributes to the understanding of investment behavior in an emerging financial landscape. The findings are valuable for policymakers, financial educators and institutions aiming to address gaps in digital and financial literacy.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between ESG commitment and brand value in the banking industry, exploring the moderation effect of bank size and risk. Design/methodology/approach Based on a sample of 120 banks operating worldwide in the period 2009–2022, a panel regression with fixed effects is used to explore the relationship between ESG score, a proxy of ESG commitment and brand value. The brand value was retrieved from the Brand Finance database, and the ESG score from the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) dataset. Findings The results reveal that the ESG score does not impact brand value. However, when considering the moderating effects of bank size and risk, a significant positive relationship emerges. For large and risky banks, ESG commitment positively affects brand value. Analyzing the individual ESG pillars' impact shows that only the governance pillar is the most influential factor in this effect. Results are robust to different controls. Practical implications These results have theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical standpoint, our results provide useful insights to explore in more detail how the adoption of sustainable practices by banks influences customers' behaviors and the antecedents of financial brand value. From a practical point of view, the work offers food for thought for bank managers in order to understand how the market evaluates bank commitment to sustainability and which areas investors consider most important. Originality/value This work sheds light on the relationship between ESG commitment and brand value that is still unexplored in the banking literature. Second, we provide evidence on the mechanisms (moderation effect) that could impact such a relationship. To the best of our knowledge, both contributions are novel in the banking literature.

Purpose The objective was to identify the moderating role of reactance on the satisfaction of banking consumers with different account types and its influence on service loyalty. We addressed an existing gap in the literature concerning the evaluation of the relationship between checking account types (free choice versus mandatory) and satisfaction, moderated by reactance, as well as the influence of account types on satisfaction (direct relationship). Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted through an online survey that collected data from 267 banking product consumers in Brazil. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with partial least squares estimation. Findings Account types affect consumer satisfaction in freely chosen accounts, as consumers with higher reactance tend to be more satisfied. Practical implications It is possible to develop a consumer profile classification indicator that can be adopted by bank managers for the development of products and services tailored to each profile. Originality/value The main theoretical contribution was the identification of the moderating effect of reactance on the satisfaction of banking consumers given different account types, partially altering the direct effect of account type on consumer-reported satisfaction.

Purpose This study investigates how informal conversations and the framing of historical return information influence stock market participation, with a focus on low-investment contexts such as India. It aims to determine whether these factors nudge individuals toward or away from investing in riskier financial assets. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a laboratory experiment involving university students in Western India. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conversational treatments: bullish, bearish, or neutral. While the conversations unfolded naturally, they were subtly moderated to reflect the tone of each treatment. Following the discussion, participants completed 14 incentivized investment tasks, allocating virtual funds across assets with differing risk-return profiles. A second, within-subject randomized treatment varied the time horizon of return information, either short-term (1 year) or both short and long-term (5 years), to examine how return framing influences investment behavior. Findings Bearish conversations significantly reduced investment in risky assets and increased preference for the safest option, consistent with more conservative portfolio choices. In contrast, bullish conversations led to more complex reallocation, with reduced investment in both risky and safer assets. Women responded more conservatively under bearish conversations, while their reactions to bullish conversations involved nuanced adjustments. Longer investment horizons led to increased risky investment across gender. These effects were not mediated by changes in risk preferences. Originality/value This study offers the first causal evidence that informal conversations can directly shape investment behavior. It also advances the literature on time horizon framing and gender differences in financial decision-making, insights that are especially valuable for informing the design of investment apps. The findings highlight how low-cost, scalable interventions can boost financial participation, particularly relevant for underrepresented groups like women.

It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article’s, Sandoval JS, Collazos-Ortiz MA, Sarmiento-Sabogal J, Cayon-Fallon E (2025), “Financial knowledge and financial behavior: evidence from five Latin American countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic”. International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-09-2024-0567 author missed to update the correct city for the fourth author Edgardo Cayon-Fallon during the proof stage. The incorrect affiliation was “EGADE Business School, Mexico, Mexico” that should read as “EGADE Business School, Tec de Monterrey, Mexico”. The publisher asks that affiliation be entered correctly at submission and confirmed at article proofing stage.

The International Journal of Bank Marketing wishes to retract the article Kaushik, A.K. and Rahman, Z. (2015), “Innovation adoption across self-service banking technologies in India”, published in International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 96-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-01-2014-0006.It has come to our attention that the article contains substantial similarities to the following article: Curran, J.M. and Meuter, M.L. (2005), “Self-service technology adoption: comparing three technologies”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 103-113, https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040510591411.The authors have fully cooperated with this investigation and supplied the original dataset for review. Using this dataset, the editorial team were unable to replicate the results included in the article, and as a result, the decision has been made to retract the article.The International Journal of Bank Marketing author guidelines make it clear that articles must be original and must not infringe any existing copyright.The journal apologises to both Professor Curran and Professor Meuter, and its readers.