Navigating the Digital Shift: The Impact of Cashless Payment Implementation on Malaysian University Students through the Lens of Financial Socialization and Digital Financial Resilience

The growing digitization in Malaysia contributes towards the fast adoption of cashless payment systems in universities. Nevertheless, the presence of necessary infrastructure is not sufficient to ensure continuous use and proper management of money. There is a trade-off between the availability of technology and socio-behavioural factors that hinder money management at universities. Current technology acceptance models concentrate on system usability and usefulness but ignore socio-developmental factors—such as family, peers, and education—that affect financial behaviour. In addition, the newly created concept of digital financial resilience has been poorly employed in cashless adoption research and fails to answer how students cope with digital financial risks. For this reason, this paper suggests a conceptual model combining Financial Socialization Theory and Digital Financial Resilience. According to the proposed framework, financial socialization plays a part in the formation of financial knowledge and consumption behaviours through the process of social learning. Meanwhile, digital financial resilience, which includes digital literacy, risk awareness, adaptability, and trust, helps to develop the necessary confidence to apply digital finance instruments. Consequently, both concepts directly influence the adoption of cashless payment by Malaysian university students.

Financial Socialization, Digital Financial Resilience, Cashless Adoption

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