Beyond Access: Entrepreneurial Capabilities and Business Context in Shaping P2P Lending Usage among Women-Led MSMEs in an Emerging Economy

While fintech expansion has reduced formal credit barriers for women entrepreneurs, increased access does not uniformly translate into opportunity-oriented growth. Challenging access-centric assumptions, this study conceptualizes peer-to-peer (P2P) lending usage as a capability- and context-dependent learning process rather than a universal enabler. Drawing on the Resource-Based View and Contingency Theory, the study examines how individual capabilities, financial literacy, entrepreneurial orientation, and digital finance experience and business characteristics jointly shape P2P lending usage and financial performance among women-led MSMEs. Survey data from 185 women entrepreneurs in Central Java, Indonesia, were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that financial literacy, entrepreneurial orientation, and prior digital finance experience significantly enhance P2P lending usage, while business context complements its use. Urban-based firms exhibit higher usage, whereas culinary enterprises primarily use P2P lending for short-term working capital. Importantly, P2P lending usage positively affects financial performance. The findings highlight that fintech supports women’s entrepreneurial upgrading only when individual capabilities align with contextual business conditions, offering implications for capability-based policy and entrepreneurship education.