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The Use of Alternative Financial Services (AFS): A Social Cognitive Approach Cover

The Use of Alternative Financial Services (AFS): A Social Cognitive Approach

Open Access
|Jan 2026

Figures & Tables

Marginal Effects of the Logistic Regression on AFS use with interaction between objective financial literacy and financial hardship_

Variables
Objective financial literacy−0.0337*** (0.0018)
Subjective financial literacy0.0146*** (0.0016)
Financial hardship (Reference: Not at all difficult)
  Very difficult0.0843*** (0.0129)
  Somewhat difficult0.0393*** (0.0087)
Interaction terms
Objective Financial Literacy*Very Difficult0.0725*** (0.0248)
Objective Financial Literacy*Somewhat Difficult0.0694*** (0.0152)
Credit card behaviour−0.0473*** (0.0012)
Married0.0101** (0.0042)
Female−0.0465*** (0.0040)
Education (Reference: High school or less)
  Some College−0.0150*** (0.0055)
  Associate’s degree−0.0356*** (0.0068)
  Bachelor’s degree−0.0574*** (0.0058)
  Post graduate degree−0.0530*** (0.0072)
Age (Reference: 18–24)
  25–34−0.0366*** (0.0099)
  35–44−0.0692*** (0.0100)
  45–54−0.1311*** (0.0100)
  55–64−0.1710*** (0.0103)
  65+−0.2023*** (0.0115)
Household Income (Reference: 150k or more)
  <15k0.0349*** (0.0114)
  15k–25k0.0713*** (0.0109)
  25k–35k0.0555*** (0.0100)
  35k–50k0.0423*** (0.0091)
  50k–75k0.0203** (0.0083)
  75k–100k0.0087 (0.0084)
  100k–150k0.0076 (0.0084)
Employment (Reference: Work full-time)
  Self employed0.0109 (0.0072)
  Work part-time−0.0038 (0.0070)
  Homemaker−0.0142* (0.0078)
  Full-time student−0.0400*** (0.0108)
  Sick/disabled/unable to work0.0440*** (0.0104)
  Unemployed−0.0242*** (0.0089)
  Retired−0.0074 (0.0082)
Have emergency fund−0.0032 (0.0044)
Risk tolerance0.0153*** (0.0008)
White−0.0427*** (0.0044)
Year0.0104*** (0.0012)

Marginal Effects of the Logistic Regression on AFS use with interaction between subjective financial literacy and financial hardship_

Variables
Objective financial literacy−0.0275*** (0.0013)
Subjective financial literacy0.0098*** (0.0026)
Financial hardship (Reference: Not at all difficult)
  Very difficult0.0295 (0.0221)
  Somewhat difficult0.0547*** (0.0182)
Interaction terms
Subjective Financial Literacy*Very Difficult0.0176*** (0.0041)
Subjective Financial Literacy*Somewhat Difficult0.0032 (0.0034)
Credit card behaviour−0.0475*** (0.0012)
Married0.0104** (0.0042)
Female−0.0467*** (0.0040)
Education (Reference: High school or less)
  Some College−0.0157*** (0.0055)
  Associate’s degree−0.0353*** (0.0068)
  Bachelor’s degree−0.0569*** (0.0058)
  Post graduate degree−0.0529*** (0.0072)
Age (Reference: 18–24)
  25–34−0.0369*** (0.0099)
  35–44−0.0692*** (0.0100)
  45–54−0.1305*** (0.0100)
  55–64−0.1708*** (0.0103)
  65+−0.2014*** (0.0116)
Household Income (Reference: 150k or more)
  <15k0.0368*** (0.0114)
  15k–25k0.0738*** (0.0108)
  25k–35k0.0578*** (0.0100)
  35k–50k0.0444*** (0.0090)
  50k–75k0.0225** (0.0082)
  75k–100k0.0098 (0.0084)
  100k–150k0.0085 (0.0083)
Employment (Reference: Work full-time)
  Self employed0.0115 (0.0073)
  Work part-time−0.0039 (0.0070)
  Homemaker−0.0143* (0.0078)
  Full-time student−0.0401*** (0.0107)
  Sick/disabled/unable to work0.0443*** (0.0105)
  Unemployed−0.0236*** (0.0089)
  Retired−0.0082 (0.0082)
Have emergency fund−0.0045 (0.0044)
Risk tolerance0.0153*** (0.0008)
White−0.0427*** (0.0044)
Year0.0104*** (0.0012)

Marginal Effects of the Hierarchical Logistic Regression on AFS use_

VariablesModel IModel IIModel III
Objective financial literacy−0.0378*** (0.0013)−0.0333*** (0.0013)−0.0276*** (0.0013)
Subjective financial literacy0.0122*** (0.0017)0.0145*** (0.0017)0.01491*** (0.0016)
Financial hardship (Reference: Not at all difficult)
  Very difficult 0.2435*** (0.0093)0.1317*** (0.0085)
  Somewhat difficult 0.1263*** (0.0049)0.0769*** (0.0048)
Credit card behaviour −0.0475*** (0.0012)
Married0.0131*** (0.0044)0.0113** (0.0043)0.0101** (0.0042)
Female−0.0428*** (0.0042)−0.0450*** (0.0041)−0.0464*** (0.0040)
Education (Reference: High school or less)
  Some College−0.0026 (0.0059)−0.0099 (0.0058)−0.0153** (0.0055)
  Associate’s degree−0.0379*** (0.0073)−0.0378*** (0.0071)−0.0353*** (0.0068)
  Bachelor’s degree−0.0715*** (0.0061)−0.0688*** (0.0060)−0.0573*** (0.0058)
  Post graduate degree−0.0646*** (0.0075)−0.0675*** (0.0073)−0.0530*** (0.0072)
Age (Reference: 18–24)
  25–340.0000 (0.0106)−0.0115 (0.0102)−0.0367*** (0.0099)
  35–44−0.0412*** (0.0107)−0.0472*** (0.0103)−0.0694*** (0.0101)
  45–54−0.1240*** (0.0106)−0.1186*** (0.0102)−0.1312*** (0.0100)
  55–64−0.1837*** (0.0108)−0.1701*** (0.0105)−0.1715*** (0.0104)
  65+−0.2239*** (0.0117)−0.2076*** (0.0115)−0.2025*** (0.0116)
Household Income (Reference: 150k or more)
  <15k0.0767*** (0.0117)0.0233* (0.0113)0.0361** (0.0114)
  15k–25k0.1312*** (0.0112)0.0758*** (0.0110)0.0739*** (0.0108)
  25k–35k0.1048*** (0.0102)0.0619*** (0.0102)0.0582*** (0.0100)
  35k–50k0.0797*** (0.0089)0.0503*** (0.0092)0.0450*** (0.0090)
  50k–75k0.0469*** (0.0080)0.0267*** (0.0084)0.0231*** (0.0082)
  75k–100k0.0369*** (0.0081)0.0177* (0.0085)0.0111 (0.0083)
  100k–150k0.0198** (0.0080)0.0132 (0.0085)0.0091 (0.0083)
Employment (Reference: Work full-time)
  Self employed0.0236*** (0.0078)0.0119 (0.0075)0.0114 (0.0072)
  Work part-time−0.0094 (0.0075)−0.0102 (0.0072)−0.0039 (0.0070)
  Homemaker−0.0266*** (0.0081)−0.0219** (0.0080)−0.0143* (0.0078)
  Full-time student−0.0608*** (0.0107)−0.0546*** (0.0107)−0.0397*** (0.0108)
  Sick/disabled/unable to work0.0690*** (0.0118)0.0487*** (0.0111)0.0444*** (0.0105)
  Unemployed−0.0143 (0.0098)−0.0296*** (0.0091)−0.0240*** (0.0089)
  Retired−0.0280*** (0.0085)−0.0194* (0.0084)−0.0083 (0.0082)
Have emergency fund−0.0967*** (0.0045)−0.0468*** (0.0045)−0.0040 (0.0044)
Risk tolerance0.0200*** (0.0008)0.0181*** (0.0008)0.0153*** (0.0008)
White−0.0534*** (0.0047)−0.0504*** (0.0046)−0.0428*** (0.0044)
Year0.0103*** (0.0013)0.0117*** (0.0013)0.0105*** (0.0012)

Descriptive Statistics

VariablesMean (SD)
Dependent variables
AFS use0.2246 (0.4173)
Key Variables
  Objective financial literacy3.4687 (1.5909)
  Subjective financial literacy5.3147 (1.1919)
  Credit card behaviour4.4372 (1.6884)
  Financial hardship
    Not at all difficult0.0763 (0.2654)
    Very difficult0.3051 (0.4604)
    Somewhat difficult0.6185 (0.4857)
Control Variables
Married0.5822 (0.4932)
Female0.5233 (0.4994)
Education
  High school or less0.2101 (0.4074)
  Some College0.2517 (0.4340)
  Associate’s degree0.1119 (0.3153)
  Bachelor’s degree0.2744 (0.4462)
  Post graduate degree0.1515 (0.3586)
Age
  18–240.0683 (0.2523)
  25–340.1548 (0.3618)
  35–440.1614 (0.3679)
  45–540.1711 (0.3766)
  55–640.1971 (0.3978)
  65+0.2469 (0.4312)
Household Income
  <15k0.0534 (0.2250)
  15k–25k0.0753 (0.2640)
  25k–35k0.0940 (0.2918)
  35k–50k0.1439 (0.3510)
  50k–75k0.2156 (0.4112)
  75k–100k0.1646 (0.3708)
  100k–150k0.1603 (0.3669)
  150k or more0.0924 (0.2896)
Employment
  Self employed0.0729 (0.2600)
  Work full-time0.4378 (0.4961)
  Work part-time0.0780 (0.2683)
  Homemaker0.0591 (0.2359)
  Full-time student0.0204 (0.1413)
  Sick/disabled/unable to work0.0329 (0.1785)
  Unemployed0.0353 (0.1846)
  Retired0.2631 (0.4403)
Have emergency fund0.6295 (0.4829)
Risk tolerance5.1818 (2.6123
White0.7724 (0.4192)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fprj-2026-0002 | Journal eISSN: 2206-1355 | Journal ISSN: 2206-1347
Language: English
Published on: Jan 28, 2026
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2026 Ichchha Pandey, Olamide Olajide, Sabina Pandey, published by Financial Advice Association of Australia
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.