<![CDATA[Current technology adoption models, such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), frequently neglect the psychological and emotional dimensions influencing financial decisions, particularly among informal micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Addressing this critical theoretical gap, this study constructs and empirically validates a novel psychosocial-financial model. This model uniquely integrates digital trust, social influence, and financial anxiety to evaluate how digital financial transformation and these underlying psychosocial factors dictate financial behavior and the effectiveness of strategic decisions. Employing an explanatory quantitative research design, empirical data were collected from a sample of 391 MSME owners operating in Medan, Indonesia. The respondents, predominantly informal businesses within the food and beverage sector, were selected through purposive sampling based on their active utilization of financial technology. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM via SmartPLS 4.0. The findings reveal that digital transformation has no direct impact on financial behavior ( = 0.011, = 0.862). Instead, financial behavior is heavily driven by social influence as the strongest predictor ( = 0.436, = 0.000, large f2), followed by digital trust ( = 0.263, = 0.000, medium f2), and negatively affected by financial anxiety ( = -0.100, = 0.040, small f2). Furthermore, financial behavior significantly mediates the relationship between psychosocial factors and effective strategic decisions. In conclusion, the mere integration of financial technology infrastructure is insufficient to optimize MSMEs' strategic business decisions without concurrently addressing the underlying psychosocial dynamics that govern disciplined financial behavior]]>
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