CASHLESS BUT NOT TRUSTLESS: AGENT INTERMEDIARIES AND THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF CONSUMER TRUST IN NIGERIA’S MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES

This study examines how agent intermediaries foster consumer trust within Nigeria’s expanding mobile financial services (MFS) ecosystem. Despite rapid progress toward a cashless economy, adoption remains constrained by pervasive distrust stemming from low financial literacy, fraud concerns, and weak consumer protection frameworks. Grounded in Service-Dominant Logic and Institutional Voids Theory, the research employs a mixed-methods design combining survey data from 1,624 MFS users across Kaduna, Kano, and Plateau States with 36 in-depth interviews. Structural equation modeling reveals that agent attributes—particularly local embeddedness and reliability—strongly predict consumer trust, which in turn significantly enhances usage intensity and perceived service quality. Qualitative findings further show that social capital and community accountability operate as informal substitutes for weak institutional safeguards. The study advances theory by demonstrating that in institutionally fragile environments, digital financial inclusion depends not only on technological infrastructure but also on relational infrastructures of trust mediated through human agents. It concludes that Nigeria’s cashless transition is sustained by social trust embedded within community-based intermediation, rather than by technology alone.