Arivazagan Jayabalan; Shahrukh Saleem; Prem Kumar; Sudalaimuthu Shanmugam

From Hype to Hesitation: A Longitudinal Analysis of User Sentiments towards AI‑Enabled Fintech Lending Platforms

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Author(s)

Arivazagan Jayabalan ¹ Shahrukh Saleem ^2,* Prem Kumar ³ Sudalaimuthu Shanmugam ³

1. Department of Management Studies, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College, Pondicherry, India

2. VIT Business School, Vellore Institute of Technology, (Deemed to be University) Vellore, India

3. Department of Banking Technology, Pondicherry University, India

* Corresponding author.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijieeb.2026.02.10

Received: 19 Jul. 2025 / Revised: 9 Sep. 2025 / Accepted: 20 Dec. 2025 / Published: 8 Apr. 2026

Index Terms

Artificial Intelligence, FinTech Lending, Instant Loan, User Experience, Online Reviews, Sentiment Analysis, Topic Modelling

Abstract

The rise of FinTech lending in India has transformed credit access, yet studies examining customer experiences with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled FinTech lending platforms remain limited. This study investigates the key drivers of user experience and the evolving sentiment toward AI-enabled lending platforms by analysing online reviews from 2017 to 2024 using LDA topic modelling and lexicon-based longitudinal sentiment analysis. Twelve key topics emerged, revealing significant negative sentiment around customer support, eligibility checks, documentation, repayment, and app trustworthiness. In contrast, app usability and interface design maintained strong positivity, while loan approval and disbursement processes saw declining sentiment. Despite these pain points, overall user experience remained positive, indicating that the perceived benefits such as speed, efficiency, and convenience provided by these platforms outweighed concerns like high interest rates, privacy risks, and poor customer service. The findings highlight a nuanced balance between technological advantages and operational shortcomings, offering insights for improving AI-enabled lending platforms.

Cite This Paper

Arivazagan Jayabalan, Shahrukh Saleem, Prem Kumar, Sudalaimuthu Shanmugam, "From Hype to Hesitation: A Longitudinal Analysis of User Sentiments towards AI‑Enabled Fintech Lending Platforms", International Journal of Information Engineering and Electronic Business(IJIEEB), Vol.18, No.2, pp. 157-169, 2026. DOI:10.5815/ijieeb.2026.02.10

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