<![CDATA[This study examines how financial literacy and border economic infrastructure affect the economic well-being of communities in The Aruk, Indonesia-Malaysia border, and whether religious institutions moderate these relationships. A sequential explanatory mixed-method design was employed, combining Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) of survey data from 100 economically active residents with semi-structured interviews involving three key informants. The results show that financial literacy has a positive and significant effect on economic well-being, whereas infrastructure has no significant direct effect. Religious institutions do not significantly moderate the financial literacy–well-being relationship, but negatively moderate the infrastructure–well-being relationship. Qualitative findings attribute these patterns to limited economic empowerment programs, weak institutional capacity, and fragmented stakeholder coordination. Theoretically, the findings suggest that social capital theory in the context of border communities should not assume that institutional involvement always strengthens the effects of economic resources on well-being. The findings imply that border development should integrate practical financial literacy, stronger institutional capacity, and coordinated community-based economic empowerment with infrastructure investment. JEL: G53, H54, R11.]]>
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