ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ADOPTION AND EQUITABLE FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH DISABILITIES IN NIGERIA’S BANKING ECOSYSTEM

People living with disabilities (PLWDs) continue to face significant financial exclusion due to inadequate facilitating conditions, inaccessible banking interfaces, and exclusionary business models in the banking ecosystem. This study examines how adopting artificial intelligence- powered banking tools (AIPBT) influences equitable financial inclusion for individuals living with disabilities within Nigeria's banking ecosystem. The study is guided by the Technology Acceptance Model and Social Cognitive Theory. It investigates the influence of efficiency, awareness levels, facilitating conditions, cybersecurity, and perceived ease of use on equitable financial inclusion in Nigeria. Adopting a descriptive and inferential survey design, data were gathered through structured multimodal questionnaires targeting a stratified sample of 400 people living with disabilities (PLWDs) across various disability categories in Nigeria. Multiple regression analysis indicated that all independent variables are significant predictors of equitable financial inclusion (p