Trust and Risk Perception In The Adoption of Digital Financial Services: A Descriptive and Correlational Analysis In University Students

The expansion of digital financial services has transformed access to bank-ing products and services, particularly among digitally native populations such as university students, and the adoption of digital financial services rep-resents a major research topic, even though the relationship between trust in the financial system and the perception of associated risks remains little ex-plored. This research analyzes the relationship between trust and risk percep-tion in the adoption of digital financial services among 610 university stu-dents. Through descriptive and correlational analysis, five measurement scales (25 total items) were used, the instrument demonstrated excellent in-ternal consistency (Cronbach's α > 0.94). The findings reveal an interesting relationship between risk perception and trust in innovation. The results de-note that risk perception and trust are positively correlated (p < .001), with the strongest correlation between risk perception of illegal loans and fraud (r = 0.904). These results challenge traditional theoretical models that assume antagonistic relationships between risk perception and trust.